Pair Of Silver Candlesticks In The "greek Style" By Antoine Dutry, Paris, 1778-1779

- Cast silver, chased  
- Antoine Dutry, master silversmith in Paris from 1767 to 1788  
- Paris, 1778-1779  
- Total height: 29 cm; diameter (base): 14.4 cm; weight: 1581g (790g and 791g)

-  A pair of candlesticks with their silver candleholders. The circular base has three plain contours, with the navel forming an ogee decorated with overflowing channels and three projections with large acanthus leaves at the shoulder on a matte background. The triangular shaft with a wide shoulder alternates scrolling moldings and falling laurel friezes. The socket, in the form of a gadrooned antique vase, bears a twisted frieze along the edge. The candleholders have contours with acanthus clasps.  

- The "Greek style" model is characterized by simple volumes with powerful lines, and by ornamentation freely inspired by rediscovered ancient architecture without, however, falling into an academic imitation of the antique model. These candlesticks are inspired by prints by designers Jean-François Forty and Jean-Charles Delafosse, and by Robert-Joseph Auguste's candlesticks commissioned in 1770 by Empress Catherine II of Russia for Count Orloff. This model by Antoine Dutry was produced between 1771 and 1784, with some ornamental variations. A strictly identical pair was sold at the Aucoc auction in  1941. A set of four candlesticks distinguished by floral cascades on the navel in place of acanthus flowers is held at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (Wrightsman Donation).  

- Ref. : [Barrier]Barrier, Janine : « Les architectes européens à Rome1740-1765. La naissance du goût à la grecque », Patrimoine, Paris, 2005  ;  [BP]Bimbenet-Privat, Michèle & de Fontaines, Gabriel : « La datation de l’orfèvrerie parisienne sousl’ancien régime», Paris Musées, 1995 [Dennis] Dennis, Faith : « Three centuries of French domestic silver», MetropolitanMuseum, 2. Vol, 1961 ; [Furhing]Fuhring, Peter : « L’orfèvreriefrançaise de la collection Calouste Gulbenkian », Musée Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbonne, 2022 ;  [Nocq]Nocq, Henri : “Le poinçon de Paris.Répertoire des maîtres orfèvres de la juridiction de Paris depuis le Moyen Agejusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe siècle », 4. Vol., Paris,1926-1931, rééd. 5 vol., 1968