The quality of the present candelabra suggests they were executed by a highly skilled craftsman who had a keen understanding of the trends and demand of the market in luxurious decorative objects in the late 19th century. Although traditionally attributed to Clodion, it is more likely that the present pair of candelabra so-called “Les Grandes Faunes” are after a celebrated design from the late 18th century by the Parisian fondeur et chiseleur François Rémond (1747-1812).

According to Christian Baulez, Rémond executed these candelabra in the early 19^th century, circa 1801. It seems Rémond drew more or less directly his inspiration from an anonymous preparatory drawing, made around 1785 and featuring only the female model, which belongs to the collects ions of the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris (reproduced in H. Ott.mes yer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Die Bronzearbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, Vol. I, Munich, 1986, p.283, fig.4.14.4).

Rémond’s model enjoyed great success throughout the 19^th century and in particular in the second half of the 19th century when the cabinetmakers-bronziers Beurdeley and Dasson produced the models for the great amateurs of the t.mes . For example, a pair from the Beurdeley workshops was sold at Galerie Petit, 6-9 May 1895, lot 95. It was during this period that the present candelabra were produced.