Pair of Restoration candlesticks, bronze torches, cornucopia flowers, 19th century
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Pair of bronze candlesticks or torches with two patinas (gold and black on the shaft), socket chiseled with leafy scrolls and mounted on a fluted shaft, round base decorated with flowering horns of plenty, palmettes and plant motifs, from the Restoration period, early 19th century.
These candlesticks are in good condition and very decorative. They have their bobeches.
Please note: the bronze will need cleaning, some small dents and deformations on the feet (see photos, red arrow), some wear and tear, see photos.
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In the 17th century, the candlestick or torch became synonymous with candlestick , and more precisely with a single-light table or fireplace candlestick. Generally arranged in pairs, candlesticks are made of three parts made of silver, bronze or silver-plated metal and which screw into each other: the base, the shaft and the socket. In the 17th century , torches had a fluted shaft , quite short and square in section, resting on a wide square or cantilevered base. Their silhouette is not very elegant but they are stable.
At the beginning of the 18th century , the candlestick adopted the slender form that has become familiar to us: a baluster shaft with sides , a slightly pyramidal octagonal base, topped with an inverted tulip-shaped bulge. The classic candlestick with cut sides was manufactured until the end of the century. A society in love with refinement, however, preferred a more elaborate ornamentation: twisted ribs on the base, friezes of oves, gadroons, cartouches, staples and rocailles strewn on the shaft and the socket, garlands of flowers; other candlesticks were decorated with Cupids, extraordinary rocailles, caryatids .
Under the Empire , the truncated shaft on a circular base and the flared tulip-shaped socket abruptly replaced the baluster silhouette, the whole being enhanced with a light palmette frieze. After the Restoration , the silver or bronze torch regained its earlier forms. But it lost its utilitarian role and became a simple figure, on either side of the fireplace.