Pair of candlestick in finely chased bronze gilded with mercury.

The base with a frieze of palmettes on a sandblasted background supports a
smooth cylindrical shaft with three pairs of feet and three heads of goddesses
in the Antique style that support a candle-ring with a frieze of palmettes.
Beautiful original gilding with a double patina, both matt and shiny.

The bases bear the mark «  SC » under a crown of the palace of Saint Cloud, as
well as the inventory numbers affixed by the imperial furniture guard between
1807 and 1833:

- 276, 1103, 1491, 3651 and 8879.

Late Consulate work by Claude Galle in Paris.

Dimensions:

Height: 27 cm; diameter: 13 cm.

- The watercolor drawing of an almost identical torch is kept in the Musée des
Arts Décoratifs (CD3855).
- A pair of three-headed torches is described by Claude Galle in August 1799.
- A pair of similar torches (n°inv. F1156) exhibited in the palace of
Fontainebleau was delivered on 28th of Brumaire year 13 (19th of November
1804) by Claude Galle. They are published in the book : Pendules et bronzes
;d’ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire ; by Jean-Pierre Samoyault.
Our opinion:
Our pair of torches in the Antique style is part of the very first deliveries made
for the first consul
We know their history since the delivery of Claude Galle at the very beginning
of the XIXth century for the Bonaparte family, then their presence in princess
Clémentine ;Orléans’ room in 1833 where they will remain until the 1870
before being sent back to the national furniture, then sold by the furniture
depository because they were totally out of fashion.
It is quite moving to think that it is perhaps with the light of our torches that
the advent of the Empire was prepared, proclaimed from the gallery of Apollo
on May 18th 1804.