A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU CANDLESTICKS

These bold part-fluted baluster candlesticks with acanthus clasped bases and rosette-cast nozzles are stylistically related to a pair of wall-lights delivered by the marchand-mercier Porier to the earl of Coventry for Croome Court, a similar pair of which sold Sotheby's Paris, 14 June 2006, lot 147. A closely related pair of candlesticks with fluted baluster stems but slightly varying bases decorated with flower garlands instead of acanthus clasps as on the present pair, sold from the collection of the comte de Bauffremont, Sotheby’s New York, 4 May 1985, lot 153. The candlesticks here offered are almost identical to the lower stem-section of a large three-branch candelabrum illustrated in Le XVIIIe siècle français, collection Connaissance des arts, Paris, 1956, p. 130, fig. D. Finally, an identical pair of candlesticks sold Sotheby’s Paris, 29 March 2007, lot 61 (31,200 EUR inc. premium).