SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

The expressive figures of Zephyr and Flora and Love and Friendship ('Zéphyr et Flore' and ' L'Amour et l'Amitié') on these candelabra are based on designs by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), Sculpteur du roi and Directeur de l'atelier de Sculpture à la Manufacture de Sèvres, who in 1773 supplied the bronzier Pierre Gouthière with plaster models. The figures were intended to be cast in silver as candelabra as part of the lavish furnishing scheme for Madame du Barry at the Château de Louveciennes.
The model, known as a 'girandole Boizot', continued to be influential later in the Louis XVI period, evidenced by their appearance in a drawing in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, dated 1790, depicting a series of designs for bronzes d'ameublement by Jean-Demosthène Dugourc, including two candelabra with the same figures but with differing arms.