Pair Of Bronze And Marble Candelabra Candlesticks Signed By Clodion, 19th Century

Superb pair of patinated and gilded bronze candelabra on a marble base, 19th century. Carrara marble base resting on 4 chiseled bronze spinning top feet with rows of pearls. The base is decorated with an interlacing of oak leaves, all topped with a row of pearls. Putti on the terrace represents the allegory of wine with hair surrounded by vine leaves and bunches of grapes. The putti holds a torch decorated with vine shoots and grapes. The sockets are fluted and the bobeches are surrounded by rows of pearls. One putti has a tambourine behind him and the other a wineskin at his feet. They are both signed Clodion on the terrace. Superb, finely chiseled pieces. 19th century candelabra which were probably intended to frame a clock. Height: 40.8 cm Width: 27.2 cm Base: 14.5 cm Base height: 7.1 cm cmClodion: Claude Michel, known as Clodion, was a sculptor born on December 20, 1738 in Nancy and died on March 29, 1814 in Paris. He was the son of Thomas Michel and Anne Adam, and thus belonged to the Adam dynasty of sculptors with his brothers Sigisbert François (1728-1811) and Pierre Joseph Michel (1737-1787). He was very quickly called "Claudion", "Clodion", that is to say "little Claude", to differentiate him from an older brother. From 1756, he was a student at the model school at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Then in 1759, he entered as a student of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. On September 1, 1759, he won the first prize in sculpture with a bas-relief representing Absalon, before being a boarder at the Royal School of Protected Students from December 1759. On August 6, 1762, he received his brevet for the French Academy in Rome. A brilliant modeler, he created small terracotta subjects there that pleased amateurs. One of his first masterpieces was the Minerva (1766), which refers to the antique Minerva in the Giustiniani collection. This stay provided an environment conducive to the blossoming of an artistic and literary culture to which his uncle Lambert Sigisbert Adam had made him aware. Clodion stood out for his charm and elegance, both as a modeler and also for his marble carving. In 1766, he received a commission for a marble group for the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, and in 1768 for a Vestal Virgin for Catherine II of Russia. He decided to extend his stay in Rome beyond the prescribed three years and did not leave Rome until March 1771. In 1773, he showed a selection of works at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, thus obtaining the agrégation. From August 1773, he exhibited plaster models at the Salon. Between 1773 and 1774, he went to Rome for the second time, where he created delicate terracotta bas-reliefs. He took the opportunity to recover blocks of marble for his commissions for the rood screen of Rouen Cathedral, and for the gallery of the Abbé Terray's mansion. His career gained momentum after the accession of Louis XVI in 1774. Indeed, Clodion established himself in the world of wealthy amateurs building private mansions in the new Parisian districts. He executed important bas-reliefs for the architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, including the Triumph of Galatea for Jacques-Louis-Guillaume Bouret de Vézelay. In 1782, he executed two stucco friezes for the courtyard of the Hôtel de Bourbon-Condé, as well as a decoration for the bathroom of the Hôtel de Besenval, in a completely different spirit. Indeed, the thunderstone apparatus highlights a procession of undressed deities. In 1778, he received his first royal commission for a portrait of Montesquieu seated, part of the series of "Great Men of France" intended to adorn the Grande Galerie of the Louvre. Producing a multitude of light and virtuoso works up until the Revolution, his clientele was such that he no longer needed to exhibit at the Salon until 1801. With the advent of the Revolution, he kept a low profile. From 1795, his career took off again and, during the Empire, he continued to produce brilliant terracotta pieces, alongside prestigious, sometimes monumental, commissions.