.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This unusual pair of candelabra, with three eagles standing back to back, recalls the two pairs of candlesticks delivered by the bronzier Claude Galle in 1804 for Fontainebleau. By 1807, these had moved to the Cabinet particulier of the Emperor Napoléon himself, when they were described as deuz paires de flambeaux bronzés et dorés or mat à aigles et étoiles hauteur 31c (J-P. Samoyault, Pendules at bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 176, fig. 156). Interestingly, this same circular socle also appears on another pair of candlesticks supplied by Galle in 1805 for Fontainebleau (op. cit., p.181, no.163).
Claude Galle was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the Empire period and when his workshop was in full force he is reported to have had over four hundred employees. He received countless commisions from the Garde-Meuble and is known to have supplied aristocrats such as Louis-Alexandre Berthier and the Prince de Wagram for the château de Grosbois.
Claude Galle was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the Empire period and when his workshop was in full force he is reported to have had over four hundred employees. He received countless commisions from the Garde-Meuble and is known to have supplied aristocrats such as Louis-Alexandre Berthier and the Prince de Wagram for the château de Grosbois.
