Candlesticks

The design of this pair of candlesticks combines abstract scrolls with realistic flowers. It resembles the celebrated silver candelabrum made for the Duke of Kingston (now in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris), and a candlestick reproduced in Meissonnier’s Oeuvre, or body of work, the publication of his designs.

The artist’s designs for candlesticks were widely reproduced in the 1700s and 1800s in gilt bronze, or bronze covered in a thin layer of gold, with varying success. This pair is particularly well cast and finished with crisp details, suggesting that it was likely made during Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier's lifetime. Later casts of his designs are not as refined.