A Charles X Gilt And Patinated Bronze Twelve-Light Chandelier

An extremely fine Charles X gilt and patinated bronze twelve-light chandelier, the corona headed by outward splayed palmettes issuing from a ring with gadrooned border and a berried boss to its underside and foliate mounts around its edge, from which hang ornate gilt and patinated linked chains suspending an enclosed patinated bronze circular dished tazza, centred above by a gilt foliate-wrapped finial above a ring of patinated foliate scrolls, the tazza issuing twelve sumptuous patinated scrolled and foliate-wrapped candle branches, each terminated by a vase-shaped nozzle, the branches above a gilded anthemion ring, the underside of the circular dish with a foliate and berried boss
Paris, date circa 1825-30
Height 120 cm, diameter 60 cm.
Literature: Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, “Vergoldete Bronzen”, 1986, p. 360, pl. 5.11.7, illustrating a slightly earlier Empire gilt and patinated bronze chandelier of circa 1810 with palm-shaped finials surmounting the corona, comparable linked suspension chains and a similarly shaped ring but with swan-shaped candle branches.
This imposing chandelier, with its bold lines, strong contrasts between alternating areas of gilt and patinated bronze and its overt reference to classical antiquity, typifies the prevailing style during the late Empire and succeeding Restauration period during the reign of Charles X. Its overall design was inspired by antique Roman oil lamps. In this it compares with an ancient bronze hanging oil lamp in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard. It has a central bowl to contain the oil and six nozzles for the wicks; three are in the form of downward looking faces and are interspersed by three smaller nozzles, each in the form of a ship’s prow. As here, the Roman lamp was intended to be viewed from below and thus the underside is decorated and is centred by a circular boss.
Adding splendour to any room, the present chandelier compares to a number of other contemporary examples. Among them is a sixteen-light chandelier once owned by the fashion designer Gianni Versace (1946-97) at his palatial Villa Fontanelle near Moltrasio on Lake Como, Lombardy in Italy, which was sold along with the rest of his collection by Sotheby’s London, 18th March 2009, lot 17 for £46,850. Like the present example, Gianni Versace’s chandelier is surmounted by a palmetted corona from which hang linked chains, supporting a similarly shaped central waisted body. Both that, and the present piece, compare to another contemporary and equally sumptuous gilt and patinated chandelier with thirty-two lights, that was once owned by another fashion icon – Hélène Rochas (1921-2011). Madame Rochas’s chandelier hung in the dining room of her Paris apartment at rue Barbet de Jouy up until her death in 2011, before being acquired by Richard Redding Antiques.