Lot Essay
These spectacular Renaissance revival candelabra are modelled after the celebrated 15th Century examples in Pistoia Cathedral (illustrated in W. Odom, Italian Furniture, New York, 1966, vol. I, p. 74, fig. 64). Other examples were cast at the end of the 19th century, notably a pair used in the magnificent mediaeval revival interiors designed by the California architect Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957) for Ms. Phoebe Apperson Hearst in 1902 for the family country retreat at Wyntoon in Northern California. The Hearst candelabra appear in contemporary photographs of the Wyntoon interiors (illustrated S.B. Woodbridge, Bernard Maybeck, Visionary Architect, New York, 1992, p. 84, fig. 68, and K.H. Cardwell, Bernard Maybeck, Artisan, Architect, Artist, 1977, p.54).