LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, AFTER THE DESIGN BY JEAN-DEMOSTHENE DUGOURC AND MODEL ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE GOUTHIERE

Of intricate design, these candelabra are related to the œuvres of two important 18th century craftsmen who created works of art for the Ancien Régime. The caryatid-set stems and stiff-leaf cast bases relate to a pair of candlesticks in a design by Jean-Démosthène Dugourc, architecte et dessinateur du Cabinet de Monsieur Frère du Roi, dated to 1790, today in the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris (CD 2703) and illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 287, fig. 4.15.6. Two further candelabra with the same stems and candlearms which correspond to those featured on the present lot and which are attributed to Gouthière, are illustrated in., op. cit., p. 208, pl. XXV, and p. 258, fig. 4.7.10, the latter dated to circa 1780. Owing to its unusual and luxurious design, the present form was, like others of similar renown and style, reproduced in the 19th century to meet an ever-growing international demand for works of art created for the foremost patrons of the previous century.