PAIR OF CANDELABRAS "AUX SPHINGES" DIRECTOIRE PERIOD

Pair of Directoire period candelabra in patinated and gilt bronze and black and white marble. They are decorated with winged sphinxes in patinated bronze, bearing on their heads a woven basket motif filled with fruit and feathers, from which the two arms of light are separated. The white marble base is adorned with a diamond-shaped Apollo mask surrounded by scrolls and a palmette frieze. The whole rests on a black marble pedestal with four swivel feet.

These candelabras are in the Retour d'Égypte style, an aesthetic inspired by the Egyptian Expedition between 1798 and 1801. While the ornamental vocabulary was already inspired by Antiquity under Louis XVI, it focused on Egyptian decor at the very beginning of the 19th century. These decorations featuring sphinxes and palmettes continued under the Consulate and Empire.

Size of base: 10.5cm x 19cm (4.13 in x 7.48 in)
Directoire period, Circa: 1800
Dim: W: 23.5cm, D: 19cm, H: 46.5cm.
Size: W: 9.3in, D: 7.5in, H: 18.3in.
Condition report: In good condition. Light wear to the marble.