A Pair of 19th Century French Ormolu Mounted White Marble Candelabra after the model by Jean-François Lorta are to be sold in Tennants Auctioneers’ Summer Fine Sale on 16th & 17th July with an estimate of £30,000-40,000 (plus buyer’s premium). Classical, robe-clad female figures representing Summer and Autumn bear aloft incense burners and candle arms lavishly garlanded with fruit and flowers, and the pair stand on 19th century octagonal marble pedestals.
The figures are inspired by the famed Four Seasons candelabra made by sculptor Jean- François Lorta in 1788 for two of Louis XV’s daughters, Adelaïde and Victoire, to decorate the grand salon of the Château de Bellevue on the outskirts of Paris. The set were removed from the Chateau following the Revolution, and firstly resided in Empress Josephine’s salon in the Tuileries before being split up and housed in Fontainebleau and Versailles. The set was later reunited at the Louvre in the late 20th century, where they remain today.
A good selection of George III bookcases in the sale are led by a Mahogany, Tulipwood Banded Four-Door Breakfront Library Bookcase from the early 19th Century. With provenance from the collection of Lady Maxwell Joseph, previously purchased from Partridge Fine Arts Ltd in London, the bookcase is offered with an estimate of £10,000-15,000.
Further highlights of the furniture section include a Pair of George III Carved Giltwood Chippendale Style Girandole Mirrors (estimate: £3,000-5,000), and a Pair of Late George III Satinwood, Tulipwood Banded and Polychrome Painted Neo-Classical Card Tables, sold with a similar Ten Piece Suite of Seat Furniture and Six Matching Single Chairs (estimate: £3,000-5,000). Good lots of period oak include a 17th Century Oak Refectory Table (estimate: £2,000-3,000) and a Late 17th Century Oak Geometric Moulded Dresser Base (£1,500-2,000).
Three fine examples of clockmaking are amongst the highlights of the sale. The earliest is a rare Brass Striking Lantern Clock, signed ‘Richard Beck at Ye French Church, Londini, circa 1655’, and is offered with an estimate of £4,000-5,000 (plus buyer’s premium). Richard Beck’s career lasted just six years before he died at the early age of 27 in 1659, and only a handful of his lantern clocks are known today. All extant examples are finely made with excellent engraved dials with slight variations to the signature, the most common being ‘Near Ye French Church’ or ‘At Ye French Church’.
A 17th Century Marquetry Eight Day Longcase Clock signed Edward Stanton, London, one of the finest clockmakers in the Golden Age of clockmaking, is offered with an estimate of £5,000-7,000 (plus buyer’s premium) and a rare and impressive large-scale limited edition Giant Chronometer Carriage Clock by Sinclair Harding is offered with an estimate of £6,000-8,000 (plus buyer’s premium). a platform detent chronometer escapement – marks of a quality precision instrument.
Three 17th Century Flemish tapestry fragments in the sale comprise a silk and wool panel depicting a huntsman in a rich floral landscape (estimate: £450-550), a leafy swag with fruits and ribbons (estimate: £350-450), and a border fabric with exotic fruit and ribbons (estimate: £350-450).
View Sale Details
