MID-19TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF CORNEILLE VAN CLEVE

These candlesticks are a variant of the celebrated model by Corneille van Cleve (1646-1732), the original drawings for which, traditionally given to Charles Le Brun but now thought to be by van Cleve himself, are held in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin. This model was probably first executed in 1702 in silver-gilt by van Cleve's brother-in-law, the goldsmith Nicolas de Launay for the bedroom of Louis XIV at Versailles. A pair of Louis XIV ormolu candlesticks of that model can be found in the Wallace Collection and are discussed in detail in P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture II, London, 1996, F. 30-31, nos. 232-233.