LATE 18TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF JEAN-DEMOSTHENE DUGOURC

Embellished with Egyptian headdress and delicately chased foliage throughout, these candlesticks were conceived in the ‘gout arabesque’ of the 1780s. The distinctive form of stem and capital, with double sphinxes, is related to the Duc d’Aumont’s precious ormolu and hardstone tables, designed by Francois-Joseph Belanger, the ormolu mounts for which were executed by Pierre Gouthière, which are depicted in preparatory drawings by Pierre-Adrien Paris, 1782 (C. Vignon and C. Baulez, Pierre Gouthiere, New Yor, 2016, pp. 286-289, 296-297).

The overall design of the present examples also relates to those ‘de genre arabesque & têtes de sphinx’ traditionally attributed to the architect Jean-Demosthène Dugourc (1749-1825) based on a drawing now held in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (GF 21 no. 38.378). Included in an album of designs for furniture subsequently delivered to both Madame Elisabeth and the comte de Provence and inscribed Dessin par J.D. Dugourc, architecte et dessinateur Du Cabinet de Monsieur Frère Du Roi. Paris. 1790, it is also annotated Executé par Gouthière, Siseleur doreur du Roy faubourg St. Martin.