Lot 417 D α

In his fascinating 2005 essay, Jean-Dominique Augarde shed light on the legal situation and the trade in sculptural bronze casting in Paris at the end of the 18th century. At that time, the bronze casting reached a level of production that could no longer be surpassed in terms of perfection. We still admire today the fantastic chasing and gilding, as documented by this outstanding pair of candelbra. Augarde was able to trace numerous changes of ownership of the most popular models within a very short period of time, i.e. the person who developed the model was not necessarily the same person who commissioned the casting or produced it himself a few years later. In extreme cases, this led to the same model being attributed to Galle, Feuchère, Ravrio or Thomire. Since we still do not know many foundries by name, signed bronzes provide us with the only clues. On the other hand, there are numerous names to whom we cannot attribute any products, but of whom it has been handed down that they created high quality designs. This type of fine candelabra with a figure of victory was cast very similarly by both Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751 - 1843) and Claude Galle (1759 - 1815). A version by Galle was delivered to the Pretit Trianon in Versailles in 1809, and a similarly designed sconce without attribution came to the Wilhelmshöhe Palace in Kassel under Jérôme in 1810.