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拍品專文
The 'C' Couronné Poinçon was a tax mark used on any alloy containing copper between March 1745 and February 1749.
With their spiraling central shaft inspired by the rococo designs of Meissonnier, these candelabra were almost certainly meant for the middle of a dining-table where they could be admired from all sides. Two other pairs of this model exist, although both are cast with dragons instead of the ho-ho birds found here:
1) a pair given to the Musée du Louvre in 1973 by M. and Mme. René Grog-Carven (OA 10520), see D. Alcouffe et al., Gilt bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, pp. 60 - 61, cat. 24.
2) a pair formerly in the collection of Mrs Henry Walters, Baltimore, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 2 May 1941, lot 1388, resold from the collection of Georges Lurcy, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 8 November 1957, lot 178, and finally sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 22 June 1986, lot 476. This pair was decorated with the arms of François-Léonor Goyon de Marignon (d. 1751).
Both of these pairs were also struck with the C-couronné poinçon, have bases cast in two sections without the C couronné and have integrally-cast drip-pans. It seems likely that these three pairs all formed part of the same commission executed just before 1749. It is probable that the bases were added later, possibly because the original design created an unstable base. Traces of silvering appear on this lot which might confirm that they were originally silvered for use in the center of a table.
The design of the central socle was frequently repeated on candlesticks using putti instead of birds or dragons. 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 unusually 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 ormoulu"
With their spiraling central shaft inspired by the rococo designs of Meissonnier, these candelabra were almost certainly meant for the middle of a dining-table where they could be admired from all sides. Two other pairs of this model exist, although both are cast with dragons instead of the ho-ho birds found here:
1) a pair given to the Musée du Louvre in 1973 by M. and Mme. René Grog-Carven (OA 10520), see D. Alcouffe et al., Gilt bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, pp. 60 - 61, cat. 24.
2) a pair formerly in the collection of Mrs Henry Walters, Baltimore, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 2 May 1941, lot 1388, resold from the collection of Georges Lurcy, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 8 November 1957, lot 178, and finally sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 22 June 1986, lot 476. This pair was decorated with the arms of François-Léonor Goyon de Marignon (d. 1751).
Both of these pairs were also struck with the C-couronné poinçon, have bases cast in two sections without the C couronné and have integrally-cast drip-pans. It seems likely that these three pairs all formed part of the same commission executed just before 1749. It is probable that the bases were added later, possibly because the original design created an unstable base. Traces of silvering appear on this lot which might confirm that they were originally silvered for use in the center of a table.
The design of the central socle was frequently repeated on candlesticks using putti instead of birds or dragons. 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 unusually 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 ormoulu"