Pair 18th Century Gilt Bronze Allegorical Candlesticks, Circle Of Valadier

Rare Pair 18th Century Gilt Bronze Allegorical Candlesticks, circle of Valadier .Of exceptional sculptural presence and refinement, this rare pair of late eighteenth-century gilt-bronze candlesticks belongs convincingly to the sophisticated Roman neoclassical tradition associated with the circle of Luigi & Guiseppe Valadier. Conceived with remarkable architectural coherence, each candlestick incorporates a finely modelled allegorical figure as an integral structural support beneath the candle socket, rising from a tapering fluted stem with acanthus enrichment and a disciplined, ring-moulded circular base. The accomplished casting and chasing, together with the beautifully preserved original gilding, reflect the technical virtuosity characteristic of Rome’s foremost bronze workshops during the final decades of the Settecento.   The figures may be confidently identified as allegories of Autumn and Winter. Autumn appears in Bacchic guise, crowned with fruiting vine and holding a bunch of grapes together with a curved harvesting implement, while an animal skin is draped about the figure; Winter is represented as a venerable bearded man enveloped in a substantial hooded mantle, his hands drawn together against the cold.