Monumental Pair of Rouge Marble, Gilt and Patinated Bronze Figural Torchères

18178: Monumental Pair of Rouge Marble, Gilt and Patinated Bronze Figural Torchères
After Carrier-Belleuse, Albert-Ernest (French, 1824–1887)
Height: 282cm, width: 70cm, depth: 75cm

This monumental pair of French figural torchères, executed in the twentieth century after designs by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, combines patinated and gilt bronze with rouge marble on a truly architectural scale. Conceived in the grand Empire Revival taste, the pair stands nearly three metres in height and belongs to the tradition of large-scale decorative bronzes produced by the leading French foundries for palatial interiors.
Each torchère is borne aloft by a classical female figure cast in bronze with a dark patina. Draped in robes of antique inspiration that fall in fluid folds about the body, each figure raises both arms above her head to carry a gilt-bronze superstructure centred on a sphere of polished marble. From this central stem spring thirteen candle branches of scrolling form, chased throughout with acanthus foliage and leafy ornament; the gilt framework is further detailed with bead-and-reel borders and classical motifs, the crispness of which attests to the quality of both casting and chasing.
The figures stand upon substantial pedestals of rouge marble, dressed with gilt-bronze mounts comprising floral swags, ribbon-tied garlands, acanthus ornament, and decorative escutcheons, the whole raised on claw feet. The interplay of the three materials — the burnished gilt bronze, the darkly patinated figures, and the deep red of the marble — produces an effect of considerable richness that underscores the monumental presence of the pair.
The design derives from models by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824–1887), one of the most celebrated French sculptors of the nineteenth century, admired for his fluent reinterpretation of classical form and a prolific supplier of models to the great Parisian foundries, among them Barbedienne and Denière. The present pair captures that sculptural refinement while displaying the ambitious scale and exacting execution associated with the finest French decorative bronzes of the twentieth century. A comparable pair was sold at Christie's New York on 13 April 2017 (lot 18) for $211,500, confirming the enduring appeal and market standing of the model.
$225,000