SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY, AFTER A DESIGN BY JUSTE-AURELE MEISSONIER

With their spiralling central shaft inspired by the rocaille designs of Meissonnier, these candelabra were almost certainly meant for the middle of a small dining-table where they could be admired from all sides. The design of the central socle, modelled with two putti, was frequently repeated on candlesticks sometimes using birds or dragons in their place. It is directly inspired by plates 10 - 12 of Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier's Livre de chandeliers de sculpture en argent, published in 1728. Even the unusally deeply curved and jagged edge of the inner base is very closely related to the Meissonnier model. This attribution is further supported by the description in the sale of Leclerc of December 17, 1764 (only 14 years after Meissonier's death) of: "deux petits flambeaux de Meissonier composés d'enfants qui portent des torchères dorées en or moulu.