Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

​A pair of early 19th century French patinated and gilt bronze figural twin light candelabra in the Egyptian taste After models by Claude Galle (French, 1759-1815) (2) image 1
​A pair of early 19th century French patinated and gilt bronze figural twin light candelabra in the Egyptian taste After models by Claude Galle (French, 1759-1815) (2) image 2
​A pair of early 19th century French patinated and gilt bronze figural twin light candelabra in the Egyptian taste After models by Claude Galle (French, 1759-1815) (2) image 3
Lot 140

​A pair of early 19th century French patinated and gilt bronze figural twin light candelabra in the Egyptian taste
After models by Claude Galle (French, 1759-1815)

5 July 2024, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £8,320 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Home and Interiors specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

​A pair of early 19th century French patinated and gilt bronze figural twin light candelabra in the Egyptian taste

After models by Claude Galle (French, 1759-1815)
Each formed as a kneeling Naophori priestess supporting stylised cornucopia branches, the cylindrical nozzles with detachable crown drip collars, the rectangular tapering plinths cast with pseudo-hieroglyphics, 41cm high, 11cm deep, 9cm wide (2)

Footnotes

The son of a farmer, Claude Galle rose beyond his humble roots to become an important bronze caster and gilder at the end of the 1700s. Although never apparently signing his works and producing in a variety of styles popular at the end of the 18th and start of the 19th century, he collaborated with numerous other craftsmen, and scholars.

By 1784 Galle had become extremely successful, producing mounts for furniture, clocks, and other objects in gilt bronze for the palaces of Fontainebleau, Versailles, Saint-Cloud, and Compiègne in his workshop and he was made a master bronzier in 1786.

After the French Revolution, Galle continued to produce numerous pieces for Napoleon Bonaparte, receiving an order worth more than 65,000 francs for the Château of Saint-Cloud. As many of his clients were slow to pay their bills, however, he fell increasingly into debt. In 1811 he was even forced to write a begging letter to the government asking for its help and protection reminding them of the awards he had won, the large family he had to feed, and the four hundred employees who depended on him for their jobs. However, he died in poverty four years later, having been forced to close his shop.

For two similar pairs of candelabra sold by Bonhams see, Collections: Including the Contents of Stanley House, the Estate of the Late John Schaeffer, and the Estate of the Late Dame Diana Rigg, 14th December 2021, lot 17 and Fine Decorative Arts, 21 November 2018, lot 46.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A Jacobite concealed portrait snuff box18th century

A 15th century carved limestone figure of St George

A pair of mid 16th century Italian patinated and parcel gilt bronze angel candlesticks Probably Tuscan and in the manner of Domenico Beccafumi (1484-1551)

A Renaissance Florentine panel woven in silks and metal threadMid 15th century, probably for a Dalmatic garment

A 16th century tapestry fragment Formerly part of a larger tapestry in Gerona Cathedral

An extremely rare early 17th century Dutch black, red and gilt japanned casketProbably attributable to Willem Kick (Dutch, 1579-1647)

A carved limestone bust of a kingProbably late 14th/early 15th century, and later

A rare and impressive Charles II leaded bronze 'York' mortar Made for Roger Warde, apothecary, and dated 1684, together with a large associated cast iron pestle

A late 18th/early 19th century Italian relief carved and part stained wood oval profile portrait plaque depicting a classical warrior maiden, perhaps Minerva Possibly attributable to the workshop of Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo (Italian, 1745–1820)

Of Grand Tour interest: A collection of six trays of 19th century plaster intagliosProbably from the workshop of Pietro Paoletti (Rome, 1801-1847)

Francesco Righetti I (Italian, 1738-1819): A patinated bronze figure of the Apollo BelvedereAfter the antique, Roman, the cast dated 1787

After Pierre Lepautre (French, 1659-1744) and François Girardon (French, 1628-1714): A patinated bronze figural group of 'Aeneas carrying Anchises'French, probably first half early 19th century

A rare French gilt copper and champlevé enamel crozier finial depicting St Michael slaying the devil as a dragon Limoges, 1220-1230

A rare French gilt copper and champlevé enamel book or Evangeliary cover depicting the Crucifixion Limoges, circa 1190-1200

A French gilt copper and champleve enamel oval plaque of the angelLimoges, 19th century

John Gibson (British, 1791 - 1866): A carved white marble bust of Lucy Charlotte Jervis (née Baskervyle-Glegg), 3rd Viscountess Saint

Jacques-Léonard Maillet (French, 1823-1895): A patinated bronze of Agrippina carrying the ashes of Germanicus

After Louis-François Roubiliac (French, 1702-1762): A patinated bronze bust of 'The Laughing Child' Probably French, second half 18th century

A late 19th century Iberian terracotta equestrian model of a peasant Probably attributable to Antonio Peñas y León (Spanish, 1810-1871)

A pair of large 19th century French bronze figural candlesticks After designs by Corneille van Clève (French, 1645-1732), the models originally cast by Charles Le Brun (French, 1619-1690)

A pair of George III gilt and patinated bronze and white marble griffin candlesticks In the Neoclassical style after designs by Sir William Chambers (Anglo-Swedish, 1726-1796), circa 1800

A pair of 19th century French gilt bronze candlesticks In the Louis XVI style and after the 18th century models by Étienne Martincourt

A Northern Italian gilt gesso carved wood,'tôle peinte' and rock crystal six light chandelier, Probably Genoese or Piedmontese, late 18th century/early 19th century

A 19th century gilt brass and cut glass eight light tent, waterfall and bag chandelier Probably English, circa 1820-30, stamped to the frame: '1 S'