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Lot Essay
THE MODEL
The model for these impressive candelabra, with classically draped females supporting flower-filled baskets, is derived from a series of ‘girandoles à figures’ supplied by the bronzier François Rémond to the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre in the 1780s. The model was originally created for the duc de Penthièvre in August 1785, but perhaps the most celebrated examples were those supplied later that year to Princess Kinsky for her hôtel at 53 rue Saint Dominique, which were also on bleu turquin marble pedestals (see C. Baulez, 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, pp. 88-9). As Baulez points out, Rémond continued to employ such figures on candelabra into the Empire period, for instance on examples at the château de Fontainebleau (op. cit., fig. 1).
Further examples of this model include a pair in the Toledo Museum of Art (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 286, fig. 4.14.9) and a pair sold from the collection of the Earl of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers, Sotheby’s House Sale, 18 May 1977, lot 92.
FRANÇOIS RÉMOND
François Rémond was considered one of the foremost doreur sur metaux of the Louis XVI period. Son of a voiturier parisien, he was apprenticed to the maître-doreur, Pierre-Antoine Vial, in 1763, obtaining his lettres de maîtrise in December 1774. Rémond succeeded in attracting prestigious (and demanding) clients including Marie-Antoinette (through Jean-Henri Riesener), the Princess Kinsky (whose commissions for the Hôtel Kinsky in Paris are discussed by C. Baulez in 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, pp. 84-99), the duc de Penthièvre, and the comte d'Artois to whom he supplied a garniture for his Boudoirturc, including the famous ostrich candelabra, now in Versailles (inv. V4776-V4777). The discovery of Rémond's Livre-Journal in 1983 has enabled a number of chefs-d'oeuvre to be reattributed to him including works formerly credited to Pierre Gouthière. The journal also reveals Rémond's commercial transactions with ébénistes like Jean-Henri Riesener and David Roentgen, and the marchands-merciers, in particular the celebrated Dominique Daguerre (d. 1796) who was the principal supplier of objets de luxe to Marie Antoinette and the Court. Rémond collaborated extensively with Daguerre, supplying work between 1778-1792 valued at the staggering sum of 920,000 livres.
The model for these impressive candelabra, with classically draped females supporting flower-filled baskets, is derived from a series of ‘girandoles à figures’ supplied by the bronzier François Rémond to the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre in the 1780s. The model was originally created for the duc de Penthièvre in August 1785, but perhaps the most celebrated examples were those supplied later that year to Princess Kinsky for her hôtel at 53 rue Saint Dominique, which were also on bleu turquin marble pedestals (see C. Baulez, 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, pp. 88-9). As Baulez points out, Rémond continued to employ such figures on candelabra into the Empire period, for instance on examples at the château de Fontainebleau (op. cit., fig. 1).
Further examples of this model include a pair in the Toledo Museum of Art (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 286, fig. 4.14.9) and a pair sold from the collection of the Earl of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers, Sotheby’s House Sale, 18 May 1977, lot 92.
FRANÇOIS RÉMOND
François Rémond was considered one of the foremost doreur sur metaux of the Louis XVI period. Son of a voiturier parisien, he was apprenticed to the maître-doreur, Pierre-Antoine Vial, in 1763, obtaining his lettres de maîtrise in December 1774. Rémond succeeded in attracting prestigious (and demanding) clients including Marie-Antoinette (through Jean-Henri Riesener), the Princess Kinsky (whose commissions for the Hôtel Kinsky in Paris are discussed by C. Baulez in 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, pp. 84-99), the duc de Penthièvre, and the comte d'Artois to whom he supplied a garniture for his Boudoirturc, including the famous ostrich candelabra, now in Versailles (inv. V4776-V4777). The discovery of Rémond's Livre-Journal in 1983 has enabled a number of chefs-d'oeuvre to be reattributed to him including works formerly credited to Pierre Gouthière. The journal also reveals Rémond's commercial transactions with ébénistes like Jean-Henri Riesener and David Roentgen, and the marchands-merciers, in particular the celebrated Dominique Daguerre (d. 1796) who was the principal supplier of objets de luxe to Marie Antoinette and the Court. Rémond collaborated extensively with Daguerre, supplying work between 1778-1792 valued at the staggering sum of 920,000 livres.