A PAIR OF EMPIRE ORMOLU NINE-LIGHT CANDELABRA
Lot 577

A PAIR OF EMPIRE ORMOLU NINE-LIGHT CANDELABRA

ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE, CIRCA 1810, AFTER A DESIGN BY CHARLES PERCIER AND PIERRE FRANCOIS LEONARD FONTAINE

Closed23 March 2017

Price Realised

GBP 35,000

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A PAIR OF EMPIRE ORMOLU NINE-LIGHT CANDELABRA
ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE, CIRCA 1810, AFTER A DESIGN BY CHARLES PERCIER AND PIERRE FRANCOIS LEONARD FONTAINE
Each tazza supporting leaf-wrapped branches, on a tripartite support headed by a composite capital with lion head supports, decorated with torch-bearing maidens, on sphinx supports with paw feet and a plinth
23 ¾ in. (60 cm.) high; 16 ¾ in. (42.5 cm.) diameter

King Umberto II of Italy, from whom purchased by the grandfather of a private European collector,
sold Christie's, London, 9 December 2004, lot 45.

Specialist note

The design for these candelabra derives directly from a drawing for a porcelain and ormolu table by the celebrated architects and ornemanistes C. Percier and P.F.L. Fontaine. It was first illustrated in their Recueil de Décorations Intérieures, Paris, 1801-1812, pl. XXI.

A closely related pair, though lacking the candle branches and decorated with bronze ornamentation on a steel body, is in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich 1986, vol.I, p. 362, fig. 5.12.1), while another is in Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden (G. Haase and G. Reinheckel, Kunsthandwerk des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts, Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden, 1978, p. 157. fig. E.26). A virtually identical pair, with associated pierced baskets, was sold at Christie's, New York, 22 May 2002, lot 385.