A PAIR OF OPULENT AND RARE SILVER-GILT CANDELABRA Vienna, 1796. Maker's mark Ignaz Sebastian Würth (Wirth). Vase-shaped body on a square base with handles on the sides designed as naturalistic intertwined snakes. Eleven curved light arms are grouped symmetrically in two levels around the central fluted shaft. The light arms are decorated with naturalistic ornamentation such as leaf tendril decoration, dolphin heads, and acanthus leaf appliqués, breaking up the massive basic shape of the candelabra in a decorative manner. H approx. 99.5 cm, total approx. 52.5 kg. Provenance: Swiss private collection. Literature: (continued) - Lorenz Seelig: "The Silver Service of King George III by Robert-Joseph Auguste and Frantz Peter Bundsen. On the goldsmithing art of early classicism in Paris, London, and Hanover," in: Munich Yearbook of Fine Arts, Third Series, Volume LVIII (2007), pp. 141-207, in particular pp. 148–149 and 171–172. - Exhibition catalog Nicolas II Esterházy 1765–1833. Un prince hongrois collectionneur: Une Histoire du goût en Europe aux XVIIIe–XIXe siècles, Musée National du Chateau de Compiegne, Paris 2007, cat. 118–119. Ignaz Sebastian Würth (1747–1834), chamber silversmith, imperial court silversmith, and councilor, came from one of Vienna's leading goldsmith dynasties. He trained from 1758 to 1763 under his father Franz Xaver Caspar Würth (1715–1769), who worked as a civilian gold and silversmith from 1734 to 1769 and created, among other things, a table service for Empress Maria Theresa, known as the First Teschen Service. Ignaz Sebastian's brothers Franz Xaver and Johann Nepomuk were also active as silversmiths in Vienna. Another relative, his cousin Ignaz Joseph Würth (active from around 1760 to 1792), became particularly famous for his table silverware for Duke Albert of Saxony-Teschen in 1779–1782. It is considered the only surviving Louis XVI-style service from this period, and pieces from it have fetched record prices at auction in recent years. Ignaz Sebastian, who stamped his work with the oval maker's mark ISW, produced numerous extensive table services for European ruling houses during his career. His most important works include a votive lamp from 1760, now in Freiburg Cathedral, which Würth made for Marie Antoinette on behalf of Maria Theresa, and the Esterházy princes' silver service from 1791/92. We also know of a silver service from 1772 for Anton von Maron in Rome, a bronze table for Emperor Joseph II from 1782, and a table centerpiece from 1799/1800 for King George III's service on the occasion of the Duke of Cambridge's stay in Hanover. Würth's works are characterized by powerful forms, refined textures, and realistic, sculptural detailing, which he skillfully combined with classical elements. In doing so, he shaped a lively Viennese interpretation of French High Classicism. An outstanding example of his art are the magnificent, particularly solidly crafted pairs of candlesticks offered at the auction, which were able to create impressive effects on the laid table thanks to the reflection of light from the precious metal. The candelabras can be dismantled into their numerous individual parts, each of which is carefully stamped with the Vienna mark and Würth's maker's mark. The square plinth and the vase-shaped body are also stamped with the so-called Vienna storage mark. This mark consists of the monogram VR and was probably valid for marking stock goods from 1810 onwards. It can be assumed that the candelabras were still in Würth's inventory at that time and were only delivered to the as yet unidentified customer at a later date.