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Lot Essay
The design of these superb candelabra derives directly from a drawing for a porcelain and ormolu table by the celebrated architects and ornemantistes C. Percier and P.F.L. Fontaine. It was first illustrated in their Recueil de Décorations Intérieures, Paris, 1801-1812, pl. XXI.
A closely related pair, though lacking the candle branches and decorated with bronze ornamentation on a steel body, is in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich 1986, vol.I, p.362 fig.5.12.1), while another is in Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden (illustrated G. Haase and G. Reinheckel, Kunsthandwerk des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts, Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden, 1978, p.157. fig. E.26). An almost identical pair, with associated pierced baskets, was sold at Christie's New York, 22 May 2002, lot 385.
A closely related pair, though lacking the candle branches and decorated with bronze ornamentation on a steel body, is in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich 1986, vol.I, p.362 fig.5.12.1), while another is in Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden (illustrated G. Haase and G. Reinheckel, Kunsthandwerk des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts, Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden, 1978, p.157. fig. E.26). An almost identical pair, with associated pierced baskets, was sold at Christie's New York, 22 May 2002, lot 385.