.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Musée du Louvre has a comparable pair of candelabra (OA5316 and OA5317) dating from circa 1785. The one with the bacchante is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronze, München, 1986, Band 1, p. 283, fig. 4.14.5. Like the one here on offer it follows the design drawing dating from circa 1785 and kept in the Musée des arts décoratifs. This design drawing is also illustrated ibid fig. 4.14.4. It is thought that the drawing originates from a catalogue of the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre.
The model was widely admired in the 19th Century and bronziers such as Beurdeley and Wertheimer are known to have executed candelabra of this form. Indeed, while the former sold a pair at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 6-9 May 1895, lot 95, the sale of Samuel Wertheimer's collection at Christie's, London included "The patterns for a pair of large candelabra in the style of Clodion" as lot 13. Further pairs of this model with eleven lights are known, of which two are in the James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, London, 1974, Vol. I, no. 165, pp. 688-9) and a further pair was sold from the collection of Samson Wertheimer, Christie's London, 15-18 March 1892, lot 331.
Clodion, born Claude Michel (1738-1814), was a highly succesful French sculptor, who obtained the grand prize for sculpture at the Académie Royale. He had a great taste for antique themes, though often executed in a Rococo manner, and his work is represented in museums throughout the world.
The model was widely admired in the 19th Century and bronziers such as Beurdeley and Wertheimer are known to have executed candelabra of this form. Indeed, while the former sold a pair at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 6-9 May 1895, lot 95, the sale of Samuel Wertheimer's collection at Christie's, London included "The patterns for a pair of large candelabra in the style of Clodion" as lot 13. Further pairs of this model with eleven lights are known, of which two are in the James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, London, 1974, Vol. I, no. 165, pp. 688-9) and a further pair was sold from the collection of Samson Wertheimer, Christie's London, 15-18 March 1892, lot 331.
Clodion, born Claude Michel (1738-1814), was a highly succesful French sculptor, who obtained the grand prize for sculpture at the Académie Royale. He had a great taste for antique themes, though often executed in a Rococo manner, and his work is represented in museums throughout the world.