A beautiful pair of Empire gilt-bronze ormolu candlesticks decorated with three female busts or caryatids, their hair being decorated with flower garlands, resting on a finely chiseled shaft with latticework decoration, supported by three pairs of bare feet. The feet are placed on a circular base with excellently chiseled pearl ribbon relief. The nozzle is decorated with gadroon and a Greek key frieze, the rim of the removable wax bobeche decorated with the same pearl rim as the the base. Elaborate chasing and an excellent gilding. The pair of Empire candlesticks is made after a model by Claude Galle (1758-1815) which were delivered by Galle for the Chateau Fontainebleau in 1804.
Claude Galle was one of the foremost bronziers of the late Louis XVI and Empire periods who having been received as a maître in 1786, gained many commissions from the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne and then enjoyed significant patronage under Emperor Napoleon. He is known to have collaborated with Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) and was responsible for the majority of bronzes d’ameublement supplied during the Empire to Château de Fontainebleau and other palaces. The world’s finest collections exhibiting his work, i.e. Musée National de Château de Malmaison, the Musée Marmottan in Paris, the Museo de Reloges at Jerez de la Frontera, the Residenz Munich and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Literature: Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Proeschel: Vergoldete Bronzen. Die Bronzearbeiten des Spaetbarock und Klassizismus, Munich 1986, Volume. 1, p. 286, fig. 4.15.1 and p. 326, fig. 5.1.6 and 5.1.7.
Condition: very good, min. wear consistent with age and use, min. fading – detailed condition report on request
