PAIR OF LOUIS XVI PERIOD CANDELABRA In chased and gilded bronze, with three removable arms decorated with a torus of grained laurel and acorns, the shaft encircled by a frieze of interlacing motifs and a garland of grained laurel, the pedestal with canals, the poly-lobed base encircled by a frieze of Greek decoration; the central covered urn from the later period. H. 45 cm (17 ¾ in.) l. 30 cm (11 ¾ in.) Provenance: Former Thierry Feray collection; By descent to the current owner. Bibliography: P. Arizzoli-Clémentel, Georges Geffroy 1905-1971 Une Légende du Grand Décor Français, Gourcuff Gradenigo, Paris, 2016, p. 213 (reproductions). A pair of Louis XVI gilt-bronze three-light candelabra The ornamental vocabulary of this pair of candelabras was inspired by Jean-François de Neufforge (1714-1791) and Jean Charles Delafosse (1734-1789), two of the most important architects and ornamentalists of the second half of the 18th century and promoters of the classical revival in reaction to the Rococo style. Theorists of the beginnings of Neoclassicism, their influence on the decorative arts, as well as on architecture, sculpture and goldsmiths' and silversmiths' work, continued unabated until the end of the reign of Louis XVI. In fact, the structure of the slightly scrolled shaft at the top, encircled by a garland of grained laurel, and the well-shaped falls of the arms of light are reminiscent of the designs in the Nouvelle Iconologie historique (Delafosse, 1768) collection (see figs. 1-2-3). As for the frieze with Greek decoration that adorns the contoured base of our pair, it can be found on the plate (see fig. 4) Pour diverses sortes de Guillochis (Neufforge, 1761).