A PAIR OF EMPIRE ORMOLU AND PATINATED BRONZE FOUR-LIGHT CANDELABRA

These impressive candelabra with winged figures of Victory relate to two designs for similar candelabra by architects Percier and Fontaine as part of a commission to furnish Empress Josephine's bedroom at the château de St. Cloud, see H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 328, fig. 5.2.1. The winged Victory figure holding candle branches is frequently associated with Pierre-Philippe Thomire, but was also executed by Claude Galle, both of whom collaborated closely with Percier and Fontiane throughout their careers. A pair of candelabra of this model supplied for the château d'Eu sold from the collection of the late Mrs. Susan Remington-Hobbs, daughter of the Lady Baille of Lowndes House and Leeds Castle, Christie's, London, 13 December 2001, lot 488. Due to its popularity, this model was reproduced in the late 1800s; a pair of late nineteenth-century candelabra with identical figures and oil lamps but with a square base, was sold from the collection of Gianni Versace at Villa Fontanelle, Moltrasio, Sotheby's, London, 18 March 2009, lot 298.