A figurative stem standing on a vaulted round base with rich acanthus leaf relief, formed by three female classical herm pilasters standing against each other, their feet resting on a flat nodus with laurel frieze. on the chest area of the herms leaf mascarones with acanthus leaf decoration. The heads of the female herms with Ionic capitals carrying a triangular plinth with extended corners decorated with satyr mascarones. On top of it the cylindrical candleholder with fluting and godroning and removable wax plates with pearl rim. Excellent chasing and gilding.
The pair of candlesticks corresponds to a watercolor by Jean-Démosthène Dugourc, kept at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
The decorator Jean-Démosthène Dugourc (1749-1825) inspired many artists of his generation. His talent is illustrated in all areas of the decorative arts, in the fabrics of Camille Pernon, on the furniture of Georges Jacob, in the projects of his brother-in-law, the architect François-Joseph Belanger, or in the production of bronzes by Gouthière or Thomire. He was appointed draftsman of the “Garde-Meuble de la Couronne” and intendant of the buildings of Monsieur, the king’s brother in 1784. His repertoire combined a return to the antique and to nature, which he disseminated in 1782 through the publication of his collection of ‘Arabesques.
François Rémond (1747-1812, master engraver-gilder in 1774), one of the most talented and important master gilder-engraver bronziers in the place of Paris between 1778 and 1805, but also a founder would have been inspired by Dugourc’s projects for the realization of this pair of candlesticks of “gout Etrusque”. Among his important clients, we note Queen Marie-Antoinette, the Comte d’Artois, the Comte d’Adhémar, the Prince de Soubise, the Ducs d’Orléans, de Laval and de Penthièvre, the Duchesse de Lauzun, the Marquise de Nicolaÿ, the intendant of Cypierre, the financier Paris de Montmartel, Letizia Bonaparte and Princesse Kinsky.
See. Ottomeyer/Proeschel: Vergoldete Bronzen, 2 vol. Munich, 1986, vol. I p. 286, fig. 4.15.2
Condition: very good, min. wear consistent with age and use, min. fading – detailed condition report on request
