EARLY 19TH CENTURY

With its winged collar motifs and slender stems studded with quatrefoil motifs, the design of these highly unusual candlesticks is apparently unique. The audacious combination of these and other ormolu elements suggests a specific commission carried out by one of St. Petersburg's most talented bronzier. The most capable artists producing luxurious gilt-bronze items were Friedrich Bergenfeldt (1768-1822) and Andrei Schreiber (1777-1843), and both supplied many ornamental bronze items to the Imperial Court (I. Sychev, Russian Bronze, Moscow, 2003, pp. 94) Obviously, many designs for bronzes were supplied to them by architects working on projects for the Emperor and his Court, and Andrei Voronikhin (1759-1814) is particularly noteworthy as he produced various designs for items with winged creatures similar to those on the present candlesticks (I. Sychev, ibid., p 91).