ATTRIBUTED TO FRANCOIS REMOND, CIRCA 1790

The authorship for this model of candelabra can be firmly attributed to the ciseleur-doreur François Rémond. While no clearly identifiable pairs of this model are recorded in the daybooks of the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, who worked closely with the latter, they are without doubt the result of a collaboration between Rémond and Daguerre, as they re-use numerous elements that are known to be the fruits of their continuous collaboration in the 1780s. With their tripod structure, two-tiered candle branches, eagle heads, swirling acanthi and coiling serpents, these candelabra closely relate to a design circa 1785 by Rémond illustrated H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. 1, p. 265, fig. 4.9.5. Furthermore, these candelabra also share similar eagle heads, vasiform centers, tripartite base and ormolu rings with a pair by Rémond in the British Royal Collections (RCIN 2692). The snake and eagle head motifs and the acanthus leaves are also found on another pair, see ibid. fig. 4.9.6. Although none of the above comparable pieces feature sphinx figures, it is known that Rémond used this decorative element on his tripod candelabra as in 1783 he supplied Daguerre with a pair of candelabra à trépied portant huit Lumières Et six sphinx at the cost of 5,000 livres - covering not only the cost of casting and chasing the candelabra, but also of casting and chasing the main models which were then to remain the property of the marchand-mercier. Rémond made different variants of this model, some of them incorporating porcelain vases, which were sold to Daguerre for 4,500 livres the next year, see P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Furniture, Vol. 3, London, 1996, p. 1258. This type of candelabra became very fashionable by the end of the eighteenth century and other notable bronziers executed similar models, including Gouthière, see Ottomeyer and Pröschel, op. cit., p. 264, fig. 4.9.1, and Thomire, see Sotheby’s, Paris, 11 October 2022, lot 78 (€277,200).

FRANCOIS REMOND
François Rémond (1747-1812) was one of the foremost bronziers of the late Louis XVI period and in 1786 had the fourth highest capitalization out of over 800 bronziers in Paris. He worked for many of the most sophisticated collectors of the day, such as the Comte d'Artois and Princesse Kinsky, as well as supplying a considerable amount of bronzes d'ameublement to the king and queen, all in the style which has come to define the last flowering of the Louis XVI period, the goût etrusque or arabesque. He worked above all through the celebrated marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, for whom he supplied work valued at the staggering sum of 920,000 livres between 1778 and 1792.