PAIR OF LOUIS XVI PERIOD CANDELABRA The figures after models by Etienne Maurice Falconet (1716-1791), the bronzes attributed to François Rémond (1747-1812) In chased, patinated and gilded bronze, the figures of Amor and Psyche surmounted by a bouquet of lilies and ears of wheat from which three arms of light emerge ending in Egyptian heads, resting on griotte red marble bases adorned with a frieze of putti and laurel garlands, the counter bases with water leaf and pearl motifs. H.92 cm (36 ¼ in.) l.41 cm (16 ¼ in.) Provenance: Former collection of the Earls of Essex at Cassiobury Park, Watford (cfr. Fig. 1); Knight, Frank & Rutley sale, 12-19 June 1922, lot 283; Former Gustave Leven Collection (1914-2008); Sotheby's Paris sale, 9 November 2012, lot 219 (€ 162 750) ; Acquired by the current owner. Comparative bibliography : P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. III, p. 1271. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. I, p. 282, Fig. 4.14.3. A pair of Louis XVI gilt and patinated bronze three-light candelabra, the figures after Etienne Maurice Falconet (1716-1791), the mounts attributed to François Remond (1747-1812) Falconet's figures, made in biscuit at the Sèvres manufactory, were recast in bronze and used both as individual groups and to decorate candelabras. The name of the founder of the children's figures remains unknown; however, the work on the light arms and bases is attributed to François Rémond. This attribution, put forward by C. Baulez and P. Hughes, is based on the similarity with other pieces made by Rémond, in particular the pair in the Wallace Collection in London (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. III, p. 1271) and the pair purchased by Count Stroganoff directly from the dealer Dominique Daguerre in 1785. The latter pair remained in the Count's family until the sale organised by Lepke in Berlin on 12-13 May 1931, lots 156-157 (then Christie's London sale, 19 May 1983, lot 34, the former Riahi collection, 2 November 2000, lot 24 and finally Christie's New York sale, 21 June 2012, lot 1200). On the Wallace Collection model, the arms with wide torso flutes are characteristic of Rémond's style. Belongs to the same group : - The pair probably supplied by Daguerre for Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford, for his residence at Weston Park, Shropshire, where they are still preserved today (see Fig. 2). - The pair supplied by Daguerre for the 1st Earl of Harewood, still preserved at Harewood in Yorkshire (see Fig. 3). - The pair from the former Paul Dutasta collection (see Fig. 4), sold in Paris on 3-4 June 1926, lot 95. Our pair of candelabras, with a more sophisticated composition of light arms, seems to fall between the model of this first group and the one sold at Christie's New York on 22 May 2002, lot 469 (see Fig. 5). There are clear reminiscences in the composition of the arms, with pronounced fluting and scrolls, but the end of the arms of light takes the form of an Egyptian woman's bust, whereas it is "à l'antique" on the New York pair. As mentioned above, the model has been widely adapted. There are several variations on the arms of light, while the bases have generally retained the same shape, with only the variety of marble sometimes varying from one model to another. During this period, the use of griotte red or turquin blue for the marble was commonplace. An almost identical pair of candelabras (turquoise marble base) was sold at Drouot Montaigne, Paris, study Ader, Picard, Tajan, on 22 November 1987, lot 214, then at Sotheby's London, on 13 June 1997, lot 61 (see Fig. 6). CASSIOBURY HOUSE: RESIDENCE OF THE EARLS OF ESSEX The rarity of our model is accentuated by its previously unknown prestigious provenance. These candelabras were part of the collections of the Earls of Essex at Cassiobury House, the family's ancestral seat in the English county of Hertfordshire. Cassiobury House (fig. 7), built in the Tudor style in the sixteenth century, underwent major interior renovation work at the end of the eighteenth century at the instigation of the 5th Earl of Essex, who commissioned the architect James Wyatt to carry out the work. The house housed an important collection of paintings by Van Dyck, Canaletto, Gainsborough and Reynolds, as well as numerous pieces of English and French furniture, including the pair of candelabras on display here. The contents of Cassiobury House followed the fate of many great English stately homes. Following the death of the 7th Earl in 1916, his son and widow were forced to dismantle the house and sell its contents at a major auction organised by Knight Frank & Rutley from 12 to 19 June 1922. The candelabra, shown under lot number 283 (see Fig. 7) and, unusually for the time, illustrated in the catalogue, were described as follows: "A pair of Louis XVI ormolu CANDELABRA, in masks, wheat-ears, flowers and foliage, supported by bronze figures of Cupid and Psyche, after Falconet, on rouge marble bases, with ormolu bas-reliefs and festoons." They were placed on the mantelpiece in the Great Gallery, beneath the painting by Joshua Reynolds of the 5th Earl of Essex and his sister. At the sale, the painting was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum in New York, where it remains today.