CIRCA 1805, POSSIBLY BALTIC

Details

A PAIR OF EMPIRE GILT AND PATINATED-BRONZE BRULE PARFUM THREE-LIGHT CANDELABRA
CIRCA 1805, POSSIBLY BALTIC
Each with a winged figure of Nike supporting an antique oil lamp with three nozzles, above a spreading cylindrical base decorated with stylised palmettes and leaves, supported by three crouching griffins on a concave-sided triangular rouge royale base, regilt
30½ in. (77.5 cm.) high (2)

Provenance

By family repute, these candelabra were intended as a gift from Napoleon to the Russian Tsar's daughter, but the ship carrying the candelabra foundered on the west coast of Jutland, after which Friedrich Heinrich Christian Johannsen acquired them at the auction of the ship's contents; and by descent
The Ditmarsk Johannsen family, Denmark.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Friedrich Heinrich Christian Johannsen (1781-1851) was "geheimekonferensrad", the Danish king's personal advisor and executive for Southern Jutland. His grandson was the geneticist Wilhelm Johannsen, who coined the word "gene".

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