A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND PATINATED BRONZE FOUR-LIGHT CANDELABRA

These finely-cast candelabra may have been inspired by, but not directly copied from, a plaster group of nymphs by Etienne-Maurice Falconet that were exhibited in the Salon of 1761 and illustrated by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin in his copy of the exhibition catalogue. Saint Aubin’s illustration may have given way to versions by bronziers such as François Rémond incorporated into candelabra (H. Ottomeyer, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1987, pp. 284-5).  In the late 19th Century, the design was adapted by the pre-eminent ébénistes of the period, including pairs cast by Henry Dasson and Alfred Beurdeley.