PROPERTY FROM A SWISS PRIVATE COLLECTION

With twisted fluted branches, decorated with garlands of pearls, the center as a urn topped with a flame, fixed by three chains topped by a crown

height 23 ¼ in. and 40 ½ in.; diameter 31 ½ in.
59 cm.; 113 cm.; 80 cm.

Provenance

Possibly Collection de M.E. S*** , Paris, Drouot, Arthur Slaes, 7-8 June 1878, lot 15;
Sotheby’s Monaco, Collection of Monsieur et Madame Henri Rabeau, 17-18 June 1989, lot 82

Literature

C. Baulez, 'Les imaginations de Dugourc' and 'les bronziers, Gouthière, Thomire et Rémond', Versailles, deux siècles d’histoire de l’art, 2007

Catalogue note

There are no drawings of the model of our chandelier, but the arabesque branches, floral buds, animal heads and treatment of the chains are unmistakably reminiscent of the work of Jean-Demosthène Dugourc (1749-1825). An ornamentalist, he worked in particular for the comte de Provence and the comte d'Artois, but also for the courts of Sweden, Russia and Spain.

His elegant, graphic style was adopted by many artists and can be seen, for example, on numerous gilt bronze candelabra typical of the reign of Louis XVI, with female terms, victories, foliate scrolls and putti on altars.
A likely candidate for the maker of this chandelier is the bronzier François Rémond (c. 1747-1812), who regularly executed work to Dugourc's designs and developed certain stylistic traits that recur frequently in his work, notably the twisted arms and rooster heads.

Another chandelier in a private collection has a similar design to the offered lot, of nine lights with scrolling arms, though its centre is made up of a sphere rather than an urn as on our model. Important chandeliers attributed to Rémond include one sold Daguerre, Hôtel Drouot, Parisn 16 November 2012, lot 269, and another in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York (Fig. 1).