Pair Of Large Empire Candelabra With Winged Children Attributed To Gérard Jean Galle - Gilt Bronze

Pair of large candelabra with 4 lights (the top one adorned with a gilded bronze flame) springing from a cornucopia, brandished by winged children on a ball column base. End of the Empire period, beginning of the Restoration, around 1810-1820. Our model is a variation of the winged children's sconces delivered by Claude Galle to the Grand Trianon in 1809. This winged child model had a great success in imperial orders to such an extent that we do not know how to differentiate with certainty the models that were made by Galle, Thomire or Ravrio. Given the quality of the bronzes, the chasing and the gilding, it is undoubtedly the work of one of the greatest bronziers of this period. The authorship returning to Galle, the invoice of our candelabra dating from the end of the Empire or the beginning of the Restoration, it is possible to think that our candelabras are the work of Gérard Jean Galle (1788-1846), who resumed following his father in 1815 in the studio installed rue Vivienne in Paris after a brilliant career in the Napoleonic armies. (In 1810, Claude Galle had requested that his son be relieved of his military obligations to help him, it was not until the fall of Napoleon and the death of the father that Gérard Jean took over the management of business). He successfully carried on the family tradition by creating spectacular bronze works of art by editing models of his father and new creations. In 1819, his creations were rewarded at the Exhibition of Industrial Products held at the Louvre, where he won a silver medal for his bronze clocks and lights. He subsequently became supplier to the crown and to the highest aristocracy (Duke of Richelieu, the Marquis de Martel, the Viscount de la Rochefoucauld). The July Revolution of 1830 and the rise of the Orléans to power damaged its business. He died ruined in 1846. Beautiful pair of large format, very decorative collectibles. excellent condition, complete with all its bobeches, superb gilding without wear, not drilled for electricity. H: 72cm, L: 25.5cm