A beautiful pair of Empire gilt and patinated bronze candelabras decorated with three female busts or caryatids, their hair being dressed in ancient Greek fashion, resting on a fluted patinated shaft with latticework capital, supported by three pairs of bare feet. The feet are placed on a circular gilt bronze base with excellently chiseled neoclassical foliage frieze decoration.The three maiden’s heads hold the central nozzle also decorated neoclassical latticework. From the nozzle issuing a central, palm-like patinated bronze stem and two s-shaped gilt bronze light arms at the sides, their nozzles being equipped with removable drip pans.
The pair of Empire candelabras was manufactured after a model by Claude Galle (1758-1815) which was 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, partially spots of corrosion – detailed condition report on request
