Pair of three-light ormolu candelabra

The base and shaft are fluted and adorned with friezes of strings of pearls. The light arms are represented by three stylized acanthus leaves, giving rise to a tulip that forms the bobèche.
Louis XV period
Restoration
H. 35 x D. 17.5 cm

This pair of candelabras, although in a classic Rocaille style, attests to the lasting influence of the ornamentation designer Meissonier on 18th-century goldsmiths. We find two major contributions from him: the bobèche, directly inspired by the tulip, and the helical movement of the light arms, intended to represent the dynamics of plant elements. These elements, which we find again in the later work of François-Thomas Germain, recall the great emulation and rapidity with which the work of a goldsmith or ornamentalist was communicated within the guild of bronziers.