François Bonvin (French, 1817-1887)

Late in his life, Bonvin concentrated almost exclusively on such intimate still lives of domestic objects, his illness confining him indoors. Just like the previous lot, this small still life is a symphony of reflections and different textures: wax, wood, metal and paper. The recently extinguished candle, the wick still glowing, hints at mortality; while the apparently haphazard, slightly out of balance composition, actually combines to create a unified whole of great visual harmony.