Attribué à LUIGI VALADIER (Rome, 1726 - 1785)

SUITE OF FOUR MARBLE CANDLES Rome, second half of the 18th century, circa 1783 White marble; gilt bronze Small restorations H. 43 cm, Diam. 15 cm This rare suite of four three-branched candelabra, topped by a covered vase in white marble, are adorned with three female busts in sheaths and, at the base, with a frieze of garlands attached to gilt bronze bucrania. The work of the bronzes is characteristic of the manner of Luigi Valadier. These candlesticks are similar to those he made in Rome for the patron of Luigi Braschi Onesti (1745-1816), which are now in the Louvre (fig. 1). These two suites of two will inspire a new model of torch to his son Giuseppe Valadier (fig. 2). They were sold in pairs. One notes, two by two, some differences in the bronze trimming - frieze of pearls or string in the ornamentation of the vases, variation in the size of the string of pearls at the base or in the assembly of the feet.