Pair Of Polished Bronze Candlesticks — Empire Period

A very elegant pair of small, polished, and finely chiseled bronze candelabra from the Empire period, circa 1810, remarkable for the quality of their craftsmanship and the delicacy of their decoration.

Resting on a wide, multi-tiered circular base, each candlestick features a succession of delicately worked moldings: beading, rows of pearls, gadroons, and palmette friezes combine to form an ornamentation of great finesse.

The base’s top is adorned with an elegant radiating design, while the pedestal and shaft are accented with geometric friezes. The body, shaped like an ovoid vase, is punctuated by several molded and chiseled bands, giving the whole a silhouette that is at once understated, architecturally structured, and particularly well-balanced.

The upper section features a well-preserved sconce, itself adorned with delicate chiseled decoration and an ornate border. The piece as a whole reflects the pursuit of precision and rigor characteristic of high-quality First Empire productions, where the classical repertoire is expressed through the use of palmettes, beading, godrons, and radiating motifs.

The polished bronze, which is particularly lustrous, allows the various reliefs to play with the light while maintaining the understated elegance characteristic of the imperial aesthetic. The quality of the chiseling is particularly remarkable for pieces of this small size.

The multi-part structure, the carefully executed moldings, and the delicacy of the ornamentation bring these candlesticks close to the early 19th-century Parisian production of decorative bronze furnishings. The Mobilier National, in fact, holds several examples of Empire-style candlesticks that employ this same design vocabulary of palmettes, pearls, gadroons, circular bases, and vase-like forms, notably in the works of Claude Galle commissioned for the imperial residences around 1810.

Period: First Empire, circa 1810
Material: polished and chiseled bronze
Height: approximately 15 cm
Complete pair with their candle sockets

In very fine condition

A particularly refined pair of small candlesticks, whose quality of chiseling, the understated richness of the decoration, and the beautiful patina of the polished bronze perfectly illustrate the elegance of the decorative arts during the Empire.