The present pair of candelabra could well represent a rare and significant addition to the oeuvre of one of the most established and talented Parisian fondeur-ciseleurs of the early 19^th century, André-Antoine Ravrio. Not only are they emblematic of his skilled craftsmanship, but they are a magnificent example of the Empire style, imbued with a decorative vocabulary inherited from Ancient Rome and of the type of treasured property passed down through generations of important collects ors of the late 19^th century and 20^th century, including the Fould-Springers and the Rothschilds.

Candélabres aux Vestales

Following the excavations of Antique cities like Herculaneum (1738) and Pompeii (1748) and their corresponding archaeological findings, France saw the revival of classicism in the late 18^th century. Ancient Roman figures like the Vestals and Ancient Greek motifs like amphorae had an immense influence on objects and decorative motifs produced in Europe. This revival observed ornamental phases starting in the 1760s with the ‘goût grec’, which then evolved into the more refined ‘goût etrusque’, and finally in the more restrained ‘goût antique’, often called Empire in the early 19th century.

In keeping with this revival and the Empire taste, the present pair of candelabra each feature an imposing female figure borrowed from Ancient Rome, the Vestal, here carrying amphorae and with a stola (a type of drapery that women would traditionally wear above a tunic in Ancient Rome), a palla (a long shawl) covering her braided hair. The amphora and Vestal figure, but also Mercury (God of trade, profit, and commerce in Roman mythology) represented on the plinths are the ultimate symbols of the ancient world and altogether they lend the present pair of candelabra a powerful iconography.

The ornamental mounts on the Vert de Mer marble plinths are designed after the sculptures of Charles-Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720), Mercure à cheval sur Pégase et La Renommée à cheval sur Pégase now located at the Musée du Louvre (inv. no MR1824 and inv. no. MR1822). A pair of candelabra in the Mobilier National (inv. no. GML 44391/2) interestingly features the exact same mounts (ill. M-F. Dupuy-Baylet, op.cit., 2010, p.192) and a clock signed Ravrio/Bronzier à Paris/Mesnil H.^ger presents a similar mount (ill. in H. Ott.mes yer and P. Proschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, 1986, Vol. 1, fig. 5.14.3).

Aside from the mounts on the plinths, the female figures are another key characteristic on these candelabra which naturally reveals the influence of Antiquity on Imperial iconography. Vestals or Vestal Virgins (virgo vestalis) are associated with Vesta, the Goddess of the home and a cult dating back to the 7th century BC until it was banned in AD 394 by Theodosius I. These women were selected at the age of only six or seven for the priesthood and sworn to celibacy for thirty years – commitments they certainly had little understanding of as children. The Vestals lived in the House of the Vestal Virgins on the Roman Forum, near the Temple of Vesta and their duties included tending the perpetual fire in the Temple of Vesta, keeping their vow of chastity, fetching water from a sacred spring, preparing ritual food, and caring for objects in the temple’s inner sanctuary. Failure to attend to their duties was punished by a beating; violation of the vow of chastity, by being buried alive. But the Vestal Virgins also enjoyed many honours and privileges not open to married or single women of equivalent social status, including respect, the emancipation from their fathers’ rule and the ability to handle their own property.

The representation of a female classical figure was quite popular amongst French designers and fondeurs-ciseleurs like Ravrio, Thomire, Galle and Feuchère during the early 19^th century. Vestals were however less common and their use is mainly recorded in similar examples than the present pair, with the vestals holding either amphorae or palms. Interestingly, many of these examples are recorded in public collects ions in Russia, which suggests Imperial Russia's evident interest in this particular model of candelabra:

- a pair of candelabra with palms instead of amphorae delivered to Tsar Alexander 1st of Russia and now in the Palais Anichkov in St Petersburg (ill. A. Gaydamak, Russian Empire, 2000, pp.50-51).

- a pair of candelabra by Ravrio’s successor, Lenoir, delivered to Tsar Alexander 1st of Russia and now in the Tsar's bedroom at Peterhof (ill. A. Gaydamak, op. cit., 2000, pp.248-249)

- a pair of candelabra delivered to Prince Mikhaïl Semionovitch Vorontsov (1782-1856), located in the Palais Vorontsov, Ukraine.

- a candelabrum from the collects ion of the Cardinal Joseph Fesch, now in the collects ions of Hôtel de Ville in Ajaccio.

An attribution to André-Antoine Ravrio can be drawn not only through the letter R inscribed on the present pair but also through comparisons with his oeuvre, some already aforementioned. In addition, a related example of candelabra signed ‘RAVRIO FECIT, PARIS 1814’ and with an almost identical central vase issuing the candle branches is in the collects ions of the Musée du Louvre (inv. no. OA11803-OA11804, ill. D. Alcouffe, Gilt bronzes in the Louvre, 2004, p.275) -fig.3.

André-Antoine Ravrio (1759-1814)

André-Antoine Ravrio (1759-1814) was one of the premier fondeur-ciseleur (fig.4) during the early 19th century and from a family which had close links with some of the greatest French cabinet makers, his uncles were Vandercruse dit Lacroix, Oeben and Riesener. He produced mounts of the highest quality and supplied ébénistes such as Jacob, Benneman and certainly his uncle Jean-Henri Riesener. There is also evidence that in 1795 he worked with another bronzier, François Rémond. Although employed by the crown, it was under the Empire that he came into his own becoming bronzier to the Emperor in 1810 after work he carried out for Napoleon at amongst others, the Tuileries, Saint Cloud and Fontainebleau. He was also a supplier to the Murats at the Elysée, to Louis, King of Holland at The Hague and to the King of Württemberg. A skilled craftsman and an ingenious designer, he won many plaudits including a silver medal at the Exposition de l'Industrie in 1806. In 1811, he formed a partnership with his adopted son Louis-Stanislas Lenoir, who took over the business in 1814.

Examples of his work are recorded in private and public collects ions like the Mobilier National (see M-F. Dupuy-Baylet, op.cit., 2010, pp. 59, 87, 95, 108, 131, 177, 206) and the Musée du Louvre.

The Palais Abbatial de Royaumont, the Fould-Springers and the Rothschilds

The Palais Abbatial de Royaumont is located about one hour North of Paris in the department of Val-d'Oise and in the commune of Asnières-sur-Oise (fig.1).

The history of the Palais Abbatial de Royaumont, a large Florentine-style pavilion, dates back to the late 18^th century when Louis XVI’s chaplain, Henri Eléonore Le Cornut de Balivière, was appointed Abbot of Royaumont in 1781 and commissioned the architect Louis Le Masson to build a palais abbatial (an abbey palace). Although the structural work was completed in 1787, the abbey was partially destroyed in 1792 during the French Revolution.

It was only after 1815 that the new owner of Royaumont, Joseph Van der Mersch, made the Palace habitable for the first t.mes . The estate then passed down through several owners, the Marquis Jacques-Henri-Gabriel de Bellissen, Louis-Roch-François Pitat, Jules Goüin until 1923, when the palace was bought by Baron Eugène Fould (1876-1929) and the Austrian Baroness Marie-Cécile von Springer (1886-1978).

The couple undertook a substantial restoration of the property and furnished the interiors with Neoclassical style works of art such as the present pair of candelabra, in harmony with both the setting and architecture of the Palais.

The Baron and Baroness Fould-Springer had three children, including Liliane (1916-2003) who in 1942 married Elie de Rothschild (1917-2007), thus connecting two prominent collects ing families. The Palace eventually passed to their son Nathaniel de Rothschild (b.1946) who deaccessioned some of the contents in 2011.