A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE CANDLESTICKS

Designed in the Louis XVI 'antique' or Roman manner, these sculptural candlesticks share much in common with the documented oeuvre of the Roman workshops of Giuseppe and Luigi Valadier (d. 1785). Although the model has so far remained untraced, it is interesting to note that a pair of ormolu-mounted biscuit candlesticks of this exact model, possibly acquired in Paris in the late 18th century, was sold by the Princes von Thurn und Taxis, Schloss Regensburg, Sotheby's house sale, 12-15 May 1993, lot 445. A related pair, but with marble bases, was sold Christie's London, 11 June 1998, lot 5 (£17,250). A pair of the same model is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris.