A MATCHED PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE SEVEN-LIGHT CANDELABRA
Lot 207

A MATCHED PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE SEVEN-LIGHT CANDELABRA

ONE LATE LOUIS XVI, CIRCA 1790, THE OTHER LATER, THE FIGURES AFTER THE MODEL BY LOUIS-SIMON BOIZOT

Closed4 December 2014

Price Realised

GBP 23,750

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A MATCHED PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND WHITE MARBLE SEVEN-LIGHT CANDELABRA
ONE LATE LOUIS XVI, CIRCA 1790, THE OTHER LATER, THE FIGURES AFTER THE MODEL BY LOUIS-SIMON BOIZOT
Each with lily spray branches issuing from a bowl and cornucopia supported by Zephyrus and Flora, on a garland-hung circular marble plinth and square base, fitted for electricity, some elements swapped between the two
42 ½ in. (108 cm.) high, excluding fitments

Anonymous sale; Galerie Koller, Zürich, 22 March 1999, lot 677.

Specialist note

These candelabra are related to a model for a Sèvres group entitled 'Flore et Zephyr' supplied in 1774 by Louis-Simon Boizot, who was director of sculpture at Sèvres (E. Bourgeois and G. Lechevallier-Chevignard, Le Biscuit de Sèvres, Recueil des modèles de la Manufacture de Sèvres au XVIIIe Siècle, vol. I, p. 23, no. 311).
Interestingly, the figural group is identical to one of two appearing in a presentation drawing by Jean-Demosthène Dugourc, architecte et dessinateur Du Cabinet de Monsieur Frère Du Roi, circa 1790 (H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, p. 287, fig. 4.15.6). The drawing is thought to have formed an album intended for Madame Elisabeth, one of Louis XVI's sisters. It displays the alternative ways the candelabra could have been configured, with differing bases and candle arms. A pair of candelabra with these figures was made for Mme. du Barry by the bronzier Pierre Gouthière, who had commissioned the models from Boizot (Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), Versailles: Musée Lambinet, exhibition catalogue, 2001, pp. 202-203).