A very fine pair of Empire gilt and patinated bronze and rouge griotte marble two-light candelabra attributed to André-Antoine Ravrio, each formed as a winged putto in contrapposto pose with his front foot on the ground and the other slightly raised as if walking, with thick curly hair, nude except for a thin gilt swag that wraps around his wings and diagonally downward across his torso to his loins, with arms outstretched and one arm slightly higher than the other, holding in both hands an upright tapering candle branch formed as a flaming torch with clusters of leaves tipped with berries below flames enclosing the circular nozzles, each putto on a cylindrical rouge griotte marble pedestal mounted with a stepped gilt border above and gadrooned border below, supported on a square base

Paris, date circa 1805

Height 44 cm, the base 13 x 13 cm. each.

The charming winged putti forming the stem of these candelabra are inspired by statuettes by the sculptor Claude Michel, known as Clodion (1738–1814) who specialised in such genial characterisation and whose figures often inspired French luxury objets d’art during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Several different versions of these candelabra are known, in which the putti are either running, striding (as here) or remain stationary. Examples of the latter can be seen at the Wallace Collection, London; dating from the very end of the eighteenth century they feature wingless infants who have both feet on the pedestal but hold very similar torches except that they are spirally fluted.

The present candelabra share more in common with slightly later examples attributed to the eminent bronzier André-Antoine Ravrio (1759-1814), which are now in the Residenz Munich. Whilst they show similar winged putti who, as here, take on slightly different poses, those in the Residenz are running; they also have their front foot on a raised mound on the top of the Empire style pedestals which have mounts depicting figural Neo-classical lamps. Another pair of 1805, very similar to those in the Residenz Munich with a cockerel and swan mounted on the sides of the pedestal are in the Paris Mobilier National (illustrated in Dumonthier, op. cit, pl. 19, no. 2). The latter pair were originally owned by prince Murat and then by the Empress at the Palais de l’Elysée where they remained until sometime after 1850. By 1861 they were at the hotel des Pyramides and then in 1881 with the Garde-Meuble. Similar candelabra, again with plain pedestals but with running infants are known, counting among them a pair from the collection of D. Nieuwenhuis, Amsterdam in 1975 and two other pairs sold in 1983 of which one pair was from the Paul Wallraf collection (Sotheby’s London, 8-9^th December 1983, lot 486).

As one of the greatest French bronziers of pre and post-Revolutionary France, André-Antoine Ravrio was a highly successful, well-respected businessman and an exceptionally gifted artist whose oeuvre included a variety of luxury objects, from candelabra, chandeliers, vases, figurines and clock cases. He came from a fascinating background for his maternal grandfather was the ébéniste François Vandercruse whose son, (Ravrio’s uncle), was the renowned ébéniste Roger Vandercruse, known as Lacroix. In addition, Ravrio’s mother was sister-in-law to the royal ébéniste, Jean-Henri Riesener. After attending school, Ravrio joined the Académie and then trained as a fondeur under his father, André Ravrio. Having been recommended by the esteemed bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) to the comte d’Artois in 1774, in 1777 Ravrio was received as a maître-fondeur, after which he joined J-B Disnematin-Dorat, a Parisian doreur-argenteur. In 1790 Ravrio married Disnematin’s daughter; his father-in-law sold him his warehouse stock, which Ravrio rapidly expanded.

Ravrio’s success during Louis XVI’s reign was surpassed under Napoleon. In 1806 he supplied a number of bronze furnishings for the Empress Joséphine at the Tuileries and in 1810 was appointed the Emperor’s chief bronzier. Commissions followed for many of the Imperial residences at the Tuileries, Fontainebleau, Saint-Cloud, Versailles, Compiègne and Rambouillet as well as for the Quirinal in Rome, Monte-Cavallo and for Stupinigi near Turin. He also supplied Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, King of Holland as well as many other notable figures. In order to meet demand, he employed over a hundred craftsmen. Sadly, none of his three children survived, though his adopted son, Louis-Stanislas Lenoir-Ravrio (1783-1846) became his partner in 1811 and continued the business after his death. Ravrio’s bronzes can be seen among the finest collections including those mentioned above as well as the Stedelijk Museum Lakenhal, the Upper Belvedere Vienna and the Musée Massena at Nice.