ATTRIBUTED TO FRANCOIS REMOND, ALMOST CERTAINLY SUPPLIED BY DOMINIQUE DAGUERRE, CIRCA 1785, PROBABLY ORIGINALLY FITTED WITH CANDLE-ARMS

François Rémond (d. 1812), mâitre in 1774.

The model for these candlesticks 'au griffon' was created in 1782 by the celebrated bronzier François Rémond and was most frequently intended to incorporate candle-arms. A pair of this design was recorded in the register belonging to the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre dated 26 January 1783, priced at 650 livres. Rémond would go onto sell a further thirteen pairs to the luxury dealer between January 1783 and December 1787. A closely related pair, once in the collection of the Hungarian aristocrat, Princess Kinsky, is today conserved in the Musée du Château de Versailles in the Cabinet Intérieur du Petit Appartement de la Reine (discussed in D. Meyer, L'Ameublement des Petits Appartements de la Reine à Versailles sous Louis-Philippe, in 'Antologia di Belli Arti', nos. 31-32, 1987, p. 38). The model may ultimately derive from the celebrated griffin candlesticks designed by the Scottish architect Sir William Chambers, examples of which include those in the collection of the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace and those sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 12 November 1998, lot 5 (£155,500).