France
Circa 1870

Rhodonite, Gilded bronze

Height : 14,5 cm (5,7 in.) ; Base : 8 x 8 cm (3,1 x 3,1 in.)

This pair of candlesticks is composed of a cylindrical shaft in polished rhodonite, set within an elaborate mount of finely chased and gilded bronze. Each candlestick rests on a tripartite base that emphasizes the overall stability and balance of the composition.
The upper section is formed by a circular gilded bronze bobèche with a molded profile, adorned with an engraved frieze of stylized geometric motifs. The shaft is encircled by vertical bronze struts, finely chased, extending into curved feet decorated with leaves and stylized hoof motifs.
The ornamentation is distinguished by the presence of ram’s heads sculpted in the round, applied to the upper part of the shaft. From these mascarons spring garlands of fruit and foliage, lending the ensemble an iconography inspired by Antiquity and associated with themes of abundance and strength. The animal heads, with their spiraled horns and naturalistic modeling, testify to a high level of technical mastery.

The combination of gilt bronze and rhodonite, a decorative material rare in European decorative arts, places these candlesticks within the tradition of early nineteenth-century luxury, in the Neoclassical taste. The quality of the gilding, still well preserved, together with the precision of the stone carving, suggests a commission intended for an aristocratic or grand ceremonial interior. The whole displays remarkable stylistic and material coherence, illustrating the alliance between lapidary arts and gilt-bronze furnishings in European decorative arts.

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Sculptor (1822-1912)

Val d’Osne

Bronze-caster

Pair of “Nubians” torcheres

France
Early 20^th century

Patinated and gilded bronze

Total height : 234 cm (92,1 in.) ; Base height : 29 cm (11,4 in.) ; width : 38 cm (15 in.) ; Depth : 45 cm (17,7 in.)

Exceptional pair of patinated bronze Nubian figures with golden highlights. Each woman, draped in antique-style garments, stands gracefully with gilt anklets and her arms raised elegantly above her head to support a lighted torch. Their serene faces, marked by great softness, feature lowered eyelids and hair held in place by a gilt ribbon. The drapery, gathered with a gilt belt, emphasizes the subtle contrapposto of their stance.

Each figure stands on a circular base.

An edition number is visible on one of the bases (6471), consistent with the practices of the Val d’Osne foundry; a circular workshop stamp is also present.

Model of candelabra by Mathurin Moreau, illustrated in the catalogue of the Société anonyme des hauts-fourneaux et fonderies du Val d’Osne.

Biography

Mathurin Moreau was a major 19th-century French sculptor, celebrated for his academic and naturalistic style. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and winner of the Prix de Rome, he exhibited regularly at the Salons from 1848 onward. His works often depict allegorical or feminine figures. He collaborated with many leading art foundries, including Barbedienne and the Val d’Osne, and received several distinctions, notably a medal of honor at the 1878 Exposition Universelle. His sculptures adorn numerous monuments and gardens in France and abroad.

The Val d’Osne Foundry, established in 1836 by Jean-Pierre-Victor André, became one of the most renowned French art foundries of the 19th century. Specializing in ornamental cast iron and bronze, it produced an extensive catalogue of statues, fountains, candelabra, and architectural elements. Known for the high quality of its castings and for collaborations with leading sculptors (including Mathurin Moreau, Carrier-Belleuse, and Pradier), the foundry exported worldwide and earned numerous awards at the Expositions Universelles. It remains a reference in the history of architectural ornamentation and urban decoration of the Second Empire and the Belle Époque. 

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France
Circa 1860

Giltwood

Height : 183 cm (72 in.) ; Base : 66 x 66 cm (25,9 x 25,9 in.)

Provenance : Île-de-France Castle

Exceptional pair of Regence style carved and giltwood torcheres holders. The console shaft around which a dolphin is wrapped is richly decorated with leafy scrolls, shells, floral falls and a woman mask. It supports a circular top with palmette and acanthus, surrounded by a frieze of eggs.
The whole rests on a tripod base decorated with friezes of eggs and foliage, decorated with three dolphins leaning against a lambrequin and ending with six leafy feet.

According to the definition of the Dictionary of the Academy, in 1696, the torchère is a “kind of small pedestal table with a high shaft on which one places a torch, a candelabra, candles”.
In the last years of the 17th and 18th centuries, this piece of furniture was particularly appreciated for supporting candelabras and girandoles made of glass or rock crystal intended to illuminate interiors as well as sumptuous galleries such as the Galerie des Glaces at Versailles for which two models of twelve copies each were delivered in 1769, in anticipation of the marriage of the Dauphin: one with figures of children sculpted by François Toussaint Foliot ; the other with a figure of a woman sculpted by Pierre-Edmé Babel after the drawings of Jacques Gonduin, architect of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne.

Galerie des Glaces – Palace of Versailles

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Crystal Manufacture

Pair of Crystal Candelabras

France
Circa 1870

Height : 115 cm (45,3 in.) ; Diameter : 53 cm (20,8 in.)

Beautiful pair of Baccarat cut crystal candelabras with ten lights. The central baluster-shaped shaft illuminates with two superimposed rows of six and three light arms with twisted branches, and is topped with a corolla. The whole is decorated with numerous octagons and crystal dart prisms.

Biography

The famous crystal manufacture of Baccarat, that dates back to the 18th century, was awarded its first medal in 1823, during the “Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie” for the “brilliance and the sharpness of its crystal” and became then the most renowned French “cristallerie”. Baccarat was undoubtedly the only French manufacture that exhibited steadily and magnificently its products at the various Universal Exhibitions, and especially between 1855 and 1867.  In all reports one can read about the « perfection of the material and of its cut ».

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France
Circa 1870

Patinated and gilded bronze

Height : 78 cm (30,7 in.) ; Base : 14,5 x 14,5 cm (5,7 in. x 5,7 in.)

Beautiful pair of Louis XVI style amphora-shaped vases in gilded bronze and canon de fusil patinated bronze. The neck, decorated with twisted fluting, is topped with a bouquet composed of three light-arms decorated with acanthus leaves and branches of flowering poppies. The belly is flanked by two scrolled handles on which sit two triton children holding a garland of flowers in their hands.

They rest on a pedestal decorated with acanthus leaves surrounded by a pearl frieze, ending with a molded square base decorated with foliate gadroons.

related work

This pair of candelabras is inspired by a model of vase-candelabras attributed to the famous bronze-caster Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813), in the collections of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Pair of candelabra vases attributed to Pierre Gouthière (Bronzier, 1732-1813) dated around 1770 and kept at the Louvre Museum, OA 5169 1 and 2. A similar pair is kept at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles (inv. 72.DF.43)

Biography

Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) married the widow of François Ceriset and took over Ceriset’s workshop in 1758. Protected by the duc d’Aumont, who commissioned several works from him, he started for the prestigious Menus-Plaisirs du roi. The artistic and technical qualities of his works (he invented the dorure au mat, which provided bronze with the appearance of gold) notably led him to work for Queen Marie-Antoinette, Madame Du Barry and the Comte d’Artois. He was the master of Pierre-Philippe Thomire, another great bronze-caster from the period. Even though he was greatly renowned, he died destitute. Very few of his works are still in existence. They can be found in the greatest museum collections: the Louvre, the Wallace Collection, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, or the Frick Collection. 

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Sculptors and Bronze-chasers
(attributed to)

Pair of Orientalist Candlesticks

France
Circa 1890

Enamel, Gilded bronze, Onyx

Height : 17,5 cm (6,9 in.) ; Base : 7,5 x 7,5 cm (2,9 x 2,9 in.)

Charming pair of orientalist candlesticks in Algerian ribboned onyx and gilded bronze, with a barrel in the shape of a molded column. The binet, the central ring and the square base are decorated with cloisonné enamels with floral motifs. The whole rests on four beaded toupie feet.

Biography

Paul Louchet (1854-1936), a French artist, worked at the beginning at chiselling bronze pieces, before becoming President of the Bronze Manufacturers Society, located in Paris. Sculptor and painter, as well, he collaborated with his brother, Charles, and together participated to the Chicago Universal Exhibition in 1893, with a great success : « Il n’y a pas de plus belle ou plus magnifique exposition à Chicago qui attire l’attention universelle que celle dans la section des fabricants de Paris. Il s’agit du stand des frères Louchet de Paris, fabricants de porcelaines, de bronzes et d’objets d’art émaillés. Les produits de cette entreprise représentent sans aucun doute dans la conception, la fabrication et la finition le plus haut niveau dans l’art décoratif. » Then, turning to Art Nouveau style, they collaborate with Louis Majorelle, René Lalique and the Daum brothers.

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Sculptor
(1824-1887)

E. Colin

Bronze-caster
(2nd half of 19^th century)

Pair of torcheres “Night” and “Day”

Signed A. Carrier and Anc. M^on Colin éditeur – fondeur Paris

France
Late 19^th century

Bronze, Marble

Total height : 257 cm (101,2 in.) ; Base height : 52 cm (20,5 in.) ; Base width : 48×48 cm (18,9×18,9 in.)

Exceptional pair of female torcheres, made in dark patinated bronze with gilded highlights. Each dressed with antique style drapes, and holding up a seven light-arms gilded bronze candelabra. Day, bareheaded and with braided hair ; Night, the head covered by her coat and holding poppy flowers and fruits symbolizing sleep. Resting on an octagonal pedestal in molded marble and decorated with friezes of eggs, and adorned with figures of winged Victories holding a patinated bronze amphora.

These female torchere-holders repeat a common theme created by Carrier-Belleuse, what model for one of the two shapes was presented for the first time at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867. It was then used on a big clock made in collaboration with G. Viot company. The bronze figure holds a large pendulum instead of a candelabrum (reproduced and commented in 1851-1900 Le arti decorative alle grandi Esposizioni Universalli, D. Alcouffe, Idea Libri, p° 78, n° 256.)

Biography

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887), nick-named the « Clodion of the 19^th century » ; was a very prolific sculptor, treating his decorative objects and his portraits with equal naturalistic rigor, full of charm and life. He entered the Paris Fine-Arts school in 1840, where he studied sculpture under David d’Angers. From the early 1860’s, he won success with his sculptures presented at the French Artists Salon and particularly during the 1867 Salon, where he was awarded a « médaille d’honneur » and the « Légion d’honneur » for his Messiah.
The « new » Paris redesigned by the Baron Haussmann during Napoleon III^rd’s reign, commissioned many of Carriere-Belleuse’s masterpieces : at the Louvre palace with the high-relief « L’Abondance » on the Flore Pavilion (1865), or the sumptuous decoration made for the most famous Parisian palace on the Champs-Elysées Avenue, owned by the Marchioness of Païva. But it is especially with the torcheres-statues of the large staircase of the Paris Opera house (1873), recently built by Charles Garnier, that Carrier-Belleuse meets a huge success with the Parisian public. In the catalogue of the 1878 Universal Exhibition an art critic praised Carrier-Belleuse and added: « Even the English come from London to ask him to work for them ». His busts, nudes, group compositions as well as his candelabras, vases and clocks, all chased remarkably, had a considerable success during the Second Empire.

Emile Colin, a renowned founder installed since 1843, No. 29 Sévigné Street in Paris, cast as soon as 1855 for the most wellknow masters of France sculpture, such A.E. Carrier-Belleuse (Le Zouave), J. Pradier (Les Trois Grâces, Vénus consolant l’Amour) or J.B. Carpeaux since 1875 (L’Enfant au cor),  as well as the famous Parisian silversmith Christofle. Colin used to stamp his bronzes of the mention « Emile Colin & C^ie » from 1882 until 1898.  That mark became later « M. Colin & C^ie » from 1898 until 1906, then « Ancienne Maison Colin, Jollet & C^ie » from 1906 until 1923. Worldwide renowned, Emile Colin sent to the Chicago Universal Exhibition of 1893 bronze works of art, with among them, ormolu mounted marble urns and a large bronze clock. The Colin Company counted then at the turn of the century among the greatest bronze-casters at the sides of Barbedienne, Susse and Siot-Decauville. With the death of Emile Colin in 1900, his own models were sold to the Company Doistal, set up in Paris, Avenue Daumesnil. This firm doesn’t exist anymore. The Colin Company was once again honoured at the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition with lights of various styles designed and modelled by Léon Méssagé.

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Goldsmith and Bronze-caster (1824-1889)
(attributed to)

Pair of « Holy Family » Candle Holders

France
Circa 1880

Cold-painted enamel, Gilded and silvered bronze

Height : 65 cm (25,6 in.) ; Width : 24,5 cm (9,7 in.) ; Depth : 24,5 cm (9,7 in.)

Rare pair of gilded and silvered bronze candle holders with engraved shafts decorated with rings embellished with colored cabochons in imitation of semi-precious stones. The religious character of these candles is recalled by the presence of angels in medallions in the center of the shaft, and by the presence of members of the Holy Family in a mandorla on each side of the tripod foot.
A rich bestiary of fantastic animals inspired by the Middle Ages adorns the whole.

The abundance of details transforms these candle holders from simple utilitarian objects during a religious celebration into a decorative artwork.

Biography

Placide Poussielgue-Rusand (1824-1889) is a Parisian goldsmith and bronze maker known above all for his liturgical objects (chalices, ciboriums, patens, monstrances, etc.) and church bronzes (altar candlesticks, candelabra, chandeliers, lamps, altar cross and processional cross, altar…). In 1849 he took over the Maison Choiselat-Gallien. His sense of commerce allowed him to organize his production of modular objects, sold in catalogs, in an industrial manner. In 1862, his company employed 250 workers.
Recognized by his peers, officer of the Legion of Honor and bearing the title of Goldsmith of NSP the Pope, he won prizes at the universal exhibitions from 1851 to 1878. He chaired the goldsmith’s jury in 1889. On the death of Placide Poussielgue-Rusand in 1889, the company took the name of Maison Poussielgue-Rusand Fils, managed by his son, Maurice Poussielgue-Rusand (1861-1933), then his grandson, Jean-Marie Poussielgue -Rusand (1895-1967) who ended the company’s activity in 1963.

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France
Circa 1880

Gilded and patinated bronze, Griotte marble

Height : 51 cm (20 in.) ; Base : 16 x 16 cm (6,3 x 6,3 in.)

Pair of candelabras after a model by Clodion, representing a young Faun and a young Bacchus in patinated bronze, each holding three light-arms in chiseled and gilded bronze with vine decoration. They rest on a square base with curved edges in Griotte marble, topped by a truncated and fluted column in gilded bronze, surrounded by a torus.

related work

Candelabra child Satyr (in pair with a little girl), model by Clodion
Circa 1775, Gilded and patinated bronze
Provenance : Palais de Compiègne in the 19th century
Kept in the Louvre museum (OA 5207)

The authorship of the model is established by the sales catalogue of the Cabinet of Mr. Aubert, on March 2^nd, 1786 :

biography

Claude Michel, known as Clodion, is a French sculptor born in 1738, from the Adam dynasty. He joins in 1755 the workshop of his uncle Lambert Sigisbert Adam then becomes the student of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. He wins in 1759 the sculpture grand prize and leaves to Rome in 1762 until 1771. In 1773, he is accepted by the Academy and receives his first order from the King in 1779 for a statue of Montesquieu. He is known for his mythological groups of dancers, nymphs or bathers in terracotta, and many of his artworks are exposed in museums such as the Louvre, the National Gallery of Art de Washington, or the museum of Fine Arts of Nancy.

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France
Circa 1880

Porcelain, Gilded bronze, Crystal

Height : 120 cm (47,2 in.) ; Diameter : 58 cm (22, 8 in.)

Large pair of baluster-shaped candelabra vases with seven lights, in gros bleu porcelain and chiselled and gilded bronze. The sconces, adorned with foliage and vine branches, are joined by elegant garlands of crystals cut in prisms and mirzas. Two openwork handles decorated with foliage and a garland frame the belly.

They rest on a base adorned with interlacing friezes ending by four leafy feet.

This pair of candelabra vases is close to the production of the Sèvres factory.

Biography

The Sèvres factory of soft-paste porcelain was created, about 1738 at Vincennes by bankers and financiers with the aim of making true or “hard-paste” porcelain, like Meissen did. In 1753 Louis XV, became a major shareholder and the manufactory was transferred to Sèvres, closer to Versailles and the château de Bellevue, acquired by the Marquise de Pompadour. The Marquise took a personal interest in Sèvres activities, and encouraged production. In 1759, Louis XV bought out the other shareholders and Sèvres became the exclusive property of the France Crown. From then, the manufactory mark was a crossed Ls (the royal monogram) together with a letter indicating the year. The period from 1756 to 1779 represents the most successful and prosperous years for the factory. Louis XV, ordered large services for diplomatic and royal presents. The foremost artists, like the painter Boucher or the sculptor Falconet, worked for Sèvres, creating models. Experimentation in order to discover the hard-paste porcelain technic continued, and was discovered after 1769. The factory produced with success both soft-paste and hard-paste porcelain, in developing at the same time new colors: dark blue (bleu lapis) about 1752, turquoise blue (bleu céleste) in 1753, apple green in 1756, rose in 1757, and king’s blue in 1763. These remarkable pieces were usually painted with scenes form engraving by famous painters (François Boucher) or sculptors, with garlands, baskets of flowers and trophies. The Manufacture continued its production in the 19th century, asking the artists for new models, or taking inspiration from 18th century pieces.

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Bronze-caster
(active since 1831)
(attributed to)

Large pair of rock crystal girandoles

France
Circa 1860

Height : 105 cm (41,3 in.) ; Diameter : 60 cm (23,6 in.)
Height columns : 115 cm (45,3 in.)

Rock crystal, Gilded bronze

Large pair of Louis XIV style girandoles with twelve light-arms, adorned with five rows of finely cut and faceted rock crystal pendants, topped by a dagger. The whole is supported by a beautiful garniture of gilded and chiseled bronze organized around a baluster shaft, resting on a circular base decorated with godrons and lambrequins.
An indirect lighting system reveals all the brilliance of rock crystal.

They rest on two truncated walnut columns.

biography

Henri Picard was established in Paris, 6 rue Jarente from 1831 to 1839 and then 10 rue de la Perle from 1840 to 1864. He worked on the Emperor Napoleon III’s apartments gilding at the Louvre Palace. His production was in a rich and fine style, like a Japanese style inkwell, or his Pompeian style dining table centerpieces.

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France
Circa 1880

Porcelain, Gilded bronze

Height : 43 cm (16,9 in.) ; Diam. : 20 cm (7,9 in.)

A very fine Louis XVI style turquoise porcelain vases with a polychrome decoration. Each side is adorned with a female portrait with a dog or a sheep and on the other side with a landscape on porcelain. The whole is enriched with a relief pearls decoration. Each vase is surmounted by a four lights candelabrum in gilt and chiseled bronze adorned with foliate patterns.

This pair of candelabra vases is close to the production of the Sèvres Factory.

Commentary

The Sèvres factory of soft-paste porcelain was created, about 1738 at Vincennes by bankers and financiers with the aim of making true or “hard-paste” porcelain, like Meissen did. In 1753 Louis XV, became a major shareholder and the manufactory was transferred to Sèvres, closer to Versailles and the château de Bellevue, acquired by the Marquise de Pompadour. The Marquise took a personal interest in Sèvres activities, and encouraged production. In 1759, Louis XV bought out the other shareholders and Sèvres became the exclusive property of the France Crown. From then, the manufactury mark was a symmetrically crossed Ls (the royal monogram) together with a letter indicating the year. The period between 1756 to 1779 represents the most successful and prosperous years for the factory. Louis XV, ordered large services for diplomatic and royal presents. The foremost artists, like the painters Boucher or Bachelier, the sculptors Falconet or Boizot, worked for Sèvres, creating models. Experimentation in order to discover the hard-paste porcelain technic continued, and was discovered after 1769. The factory produced with success both soft-paste and hard-paste porcelain. In these years the most famous ground colours were invented: the dark blue (bleu lapis) about 1752, the turquoise blue (bleu céleste) in 1753, the applegreen in 1756, the famous rose in 1757, and the king’s blue in 1763. These remarkable pieces were usually painted with scenes form engraving by famous painters (François Boucher) or ornementalists, with garlands, baskets of flowers and trophies. The production included sculptures (“l’Amour menaçant” by Falconet), large services (the service for Rambouillet was delivered to Marie-Antoinette in 1788), decorative and utilitarian objects. The “marchands-merciers” played an important role in supporting the factory and making its production popular. Daguerre was the first to decorate furniture with porcelain, one of the most striking innovations of the century and one of the most admired today.

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Silversmith
(Late 19th century)

Pair of Jardinières-Candélabras

Signed Boin-Taburet à Paris and numbered 34369 and 34370

France
Circa 1880

Silvered bronze

Height : 25 cm (9 ^3/4 in.) ; Diameter : 34 cm (13 ^1/3 in.)

Lovely pair of Louis XVI style planters with three light arms. Each jardiniere, with their liners  in form of a basket based on a three leafy feet and a lobed base. The inner liners are removable.

biography

The two French goldsmiths George Boin and his son-in-law Emile Taburet created around 1875 in Paris the company Boin-Taburet. They made many silver pieces inspired by the beautiful services of the eighteenth century. At the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878, Georges Boin presented a “service de toilette” inspired by the work of François-Thomas Germain (1726-1791), and then at the Universal Exhibition of 1889, several epergnes, including one of them executed after drawings by the famous artist Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695-1750), as well as tea sets of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. Boin-Taburet firm also exhibited a tureen and platter after Pierre Germain’s one (1645-1684) for the Jockey Club, located then on Scribe street in Paris in 1863. Through its lavish events to various international shows, Boin-Taburet company contributed to the revival styles of the eighteenth century.

bibliography

A. Dunan, The Paris Salons 1895-1914, Objets d’Art et Metalware, vol. V

J. Puiforcat, L’orfèvrerie française et étrangère, Paris, 1981, p. 112.

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France
18th century

Silvered bronze

Height. : 26,5 cm (10,4 in.) ; Diam. : 14 cm (5,5 in.)

Ravishing pair of baluster-shaped candlesticks in silvered bronze. The stems are sculpted with deep fluting which supports the fluted socket and removable nozzle. Each candlestick rests on a large circular base with undulating edges.

Commentary

Wall sconces, chandeliers, candlesticks and candelabras considerably develop during the 17th century. Their refinement reflects the social situation of their owner. At the beginning of 18^th century, ornemanistes bring a new life to decorative arts, liberating these from the Le Brun classicism and opening the way to Regence style, lighter and more intimate.

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Bronze-caster
(1805-1886)
(attributed to)

Pair of “Putti” torcheres

France
Circa 1870

Gilded and patinated bronze

Total Height : 262 cm (103 in.)
Torcheres – Height : 180 cm (70,8 in.) ; Width : 75 cm (29,5 in.)
Base – Height : 82 cm (32,3 in.) ; Diameter : 52 cm (20,5 in.)

A pair of two patina bronze torcheres. Each modeled as a pair of putti holding aloft a large foliate shaft issuing eleven berried-acanthus scrolled branches terminating in conforming drip-pans and nozzles, on a circular parcel-gilt and ebonized plinth with fluted shaft.

Torcheres inspired by an 18th century model made by Jean-Louis Prieur (born around 1725), now part of the Wallace collection (inventory numbers F138 and F139).
Reproduced and commented in H. Ottomeyer, Vergoldete Bronzen, T. I, Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munich, 1986, p. 95.

Another comparable group of cherubs holding a foliate torchere made in about 1870 by Victor Paillard.

Biography

Victor Paillard (1805-1886) was one of the most distinguished bronze casters in Paris during the second half of the 19^th Century. He was taught chasing by Jean-François Denière (1774-1866), then opened in the 1830’s his own workshop making “Art bronzes and Furnishing bronzes”, settled n°105, boulevard Beaumarchais in Paris. He executed first small objects, then cast statuettes, candelabra, clocks as well as impressive sized torcheres. He appeared to the public for the first time at the Industrial Products Exhibition of 1839 and worked for the greatest French sculptors, such as Pradier, Barye and Carrier-Belleuse. He exhibited extensively with great success being mentioned for the quality of his work at the famous 1851 and 1862 London Universal Exhibitions, and the 1855, 1867 and 1878 Universal Exhibitions then held in Paris. Paillard was there celebrated by everyone ; John Burney Waring ilustrates a gilt-bronze mirror by him in his “Masterpieces of Industrial Art and Sculpture, 1862 (Plate 92)”, which is a comprehensive record of the finest pieces on show in the London Exhibition. At that time, he was awarded a prize medal and the exceptional quality of his work was commented in all jury reports. Appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur by the French Government, Paillard employed since the 1850’s a hundred workers and proposed to his wealthy clients about four hundreds models, cast in bronze not only after famous sculptors’ works, but also after his own creations. It is especially interesting that his “Cherub” figures, such as those ones presented here were particularly singled out for their charm and popularity by commentators at both the 1862 and 1867 Universal Exhibitions. Burney Waring noted that they portrayed the “happy and innocent moods of childhood”.

Museology

Many of Paillard’s bronze pieces are now displayed in private collections as well as in renowned fine arts museums, such in the Dahesh Museum of Art in New York, exhibiting Sappho (1851). In Paris, the “Quai d’Orsay” (French Foreign Office) still presents since the 1855’s some great pieces by Paillard (clocks, candelabra and torcheres) in the Main Hall, the Congress Hall and the Salon of the Ambassadors. As for its Clock Room, Paillard made the clock which gave its name to the Room.

Bibliography

Les bronzes du XIXe siècle, P. Kjellberg, Les Ed. de l’amateur, 1989, p° 662.

Masterpieces of Industrial Art and Sculpture, John Burney Waring, 1862, Plate 92.

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France
Circa 1880

Silvered bronze

Height. : 57 cm (22,4 in.) ; Diam. : 37 cm (14,5 in.)

Pair of Louis XIV style five lights candelabras. Chiseled and silvered bronze. Ornamented with palmettes, medallions and feminine masks. Central stem with guilloche motifs, resting on an octagonal base.

To be linked : a silver candlestick made around 1720 by the French silversmith Jacques Besnier, after a model designed by Jean Bérain (1640-1711). Now preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Reproduced and commented in « L’art du luminaire », J.Bourne, V.Brett, Flammarion, 1992, p°50).

Wall sconces, chandeliers, candlesticks and candelabras considerably develop during the 17th century. Their refinement reflects the social situation of their owner. The sophisticated ornamentation, solemn and rigorous, is generally inspired by the designs of Jean Bérain, Daniel Marot, C. de Moelder or Le Pautre, whose books of studies circulate throughout Europe, inspiring other craftsmen. At the end of 17th century and at the beginning of 18th century, ornemanistes bring a new life to decorative arts, liberating these from the Le Brun classicism and opening the way to Regence style, lighter and more intimate.

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Bronze-caster
(1828-c.1890)
(attributed to)

Pair of neo-Greek candelabras

France
Circa 1870

Gilded and patinated bronze

Height : 93 cm (36,6 in.) ; Width : 43 cm (17 in.)

Rare pair of Greek style candelabras made in patinated bronze and gilded bronze. Each with ten light arms topped by a heron shaped extinguisher. Decorated with various Greek style motifs such palmets, pine cones ans water leaves. Standing on a small triangular architecture presenting a theater mask and reposing on a tripod base formed with lion paw feet.

Bibliography

Georges Emile Henri Servant (1828-c.1890), who took over his father in 1855 at their foundry, rue Vieille-du-Temple, in Paris, specialized in the production of neo-Egyptian style clocks, very popular in France since 1860’s, and also the making of Greek style decorative objects. He drew considerable attention to the high quality of his bronzes at the 1855 Paris Universal Exhibition and then at the 1862 London Exhibition. At this time Servant exported up to 40% of his production, principally to the United States, where for instance, his clocks were sold with great success by Louis Tiffany Inc. or Hamann & Roche of New York. But his success came really at the 1867 Paris Universal Exhibition, where he was awarded a gold medal for his neo-Greek and Egyptian works (Les Merveilles de l’Exposition Universelle de 1867, t. II, p° 165 & 167). He was even awarded in 1874 the « Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur », France’s hightest official mark of recognition. Servant participated once again successfully at the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition, where he not only exhibited vases and small bronze pieces of furniture, but was also a member of the jury for the class of bronze pieces of art. He finally retired shortly before the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition.

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