A pair of Louis XVI gilt and patinated bronze three-light candelabra, circa 1785

RELATED LITERATURE

H Ottomeyer et P. Prösche, Vergoldete Bronzen, 1986, fig. 3.2.1 et 3.2.2, p156

This model of candelabra belongs to a group featuring a central putto figure, often depicted playing music or bearing attributes, that reflects the influence of the Sèvres biscuit porcelain candelabra commissioned by Madame du Barry, now in the Musée Nissim de Camondo (inv. CAM 601). Two examples, one of which is identical to the present piece, are illustrated in Vergoldete Bronzen by H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel (figs. 3.2.1 and 3.2.2); the authors attribute the work to Philippe Caffieri, likely based on a model by Alessandro Algardi. This model was particularly popular among English collectors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Many examples held in English collections were almost certainly sold by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, successor to Poirier, who had travelled to London in 1787 at the invitation of the Prince of Wales.