Oliver Cornish
Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries
Lot 2
A pair of mid 16th century Italian patinated and parcel gilt bronze angel candlesticks Probably Tuscan and in the manner of Domenico Becafumi (1484-1551)
3 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£5,000 - £7,000
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Helena Gumley
Head of Sale Carpets and Tapestries
A pair of mid 16th century Italian patinated and parcel gilt bronze angel candlesticks
Probably Tuscan and in the manner of Domenico Becafumi (1484-1551)
The winged figures modelled with short curling hair and clad in pleated short tunics, one with an upheld raised right hand, the other with an upheld raised left hand, their opposing hands supporting cornucopia nozzles, raised on shaped square bases, and later mounted on polished wooden square plinths and moulded bases, the figures, 35cm high, the figures including plinths, 45cm high (2)
The winged figures modelled with short curling hair and clad in pleated short tunics, one with an upheld raised right hand, the other with an upheld raised left hand, their opposing hands supporting cornucopia nozzles, raised on shaped square bases, and later mounted on polished wooden square plinths and moulded bases, the figures, 35cm high, the figures including plinths, 45cm high (2)
Footnotes
Provenance
With Cyril Humphris, London, sold 19th May 1971.
Thence the collection of James Stafford, Dublin, until 2019.
Although apparently unknown in any other bronze versions, the present pair of angels compares closely with a set of angels attributed to the painter, sculptor, illuminator, and printmaker Domenico Beccafumi (1484–1551), which feature slightly twisting, elongated bodies and characteristic curling hair. As one of the outstanding representatives of Tuscan Mannerism, Beccafumi devoted much of his later working life to sculpture, producing a number of bronze angels, including a major commission around 1548 for Siena Cathedral.