CIRCA 1820, PROBABLY DESIGNED BY RUNDELL BRIDGE AND RUNDELL

This pair of magnificent Regency ormolu four-light candelabra was probably supplied by Rundell Bridge and Rundell, the Royal Goldsmiths, almost certainly to a design by the French émigré craftsman Jean-Jacques Boileau (a. 1787-circa 1851). They relate to a splendid set of twenty-four silver-gilt four-light candelabra hallmarked 1828-29, that form part of George IV’s ‘The Grand Service’ in the Royal Collection (RCIN 51102). George IV was a 'francophile' and enthusiastic collector of French decorative art, who set the tone for the fashionable surrounding the court. It is thus unsurprising to find this model in many great English noble collections including a pair, also in ormolu, bearing the arms of John Cust, 2nd Baron and 1st Earl Brownlow (1779-1853), formerly at Belton House until offered Christie’s house sale, 30 April-2 May 1984, lot 23, and another pair with the arms for William Harry Vane, Earl of Darlington, later created 1st Duke of Cleveland (offered Christie's London, 15 July 1975, lot 127). A further single example inscribed ‘A LEGACY left to ANNA MARIA JOHNES KNIGHT, by her dear and valued father GENERAL SIR C. CUYLER BART. JUNE 1819’, sold Christie's, Paris, 6 November 2014, lot 427 (€43,500 inc. premium). A further pair engraved with English armorials is by repute part of the Derval bequest to the château of Versailles and a set of four from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy sold, Christie's, Paris, 14 June 2022, lot 60 (€163,800).

THE DESIGN
Boileau, who in addition to producing designs, also ran a workshop and supplied gold, silver and ormolu goods to Rundell Bridge and Rundell, the retailer (C. Hartop, P. Glanville et al., Royal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell and Bridge, 1797-1830, London, 2005, pp. 7, 10 and 34). In his earlier career, he had been employed as a painter by the architect Henry Holland (1745-1806) on the decoration of Carlton House, London, for George, Prince of Wales (later George IV). An 1800 design for a silver or ormolu candelabrum nozzle by Boileau held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrates the distinctive vase-shaped form with Greek key square handles and knotted snakes found to this pair of candelabra (Prints and Drawings, 8431.7; 8431.6). Boileau was possibly inspired by French 18th century designers such as Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-1791), see a design for a two-branch candelabra by Delafosse, circa 1765, with a related tapering stem, now in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 186, fig. 3.9.3).