Claude Galle (1759 – 1815) Montée en lampes paire de Flambeaux aux Merveilleuses en Bronze Patiné et Doré vers 1810
An elegant and rare pair of candlesticks in finely chiseled, patinated, and gilded bronze, the hexagonal shafts surmounted by busts of three women known as the Marvelous. The shafts end in three pairs of small clawed feet, all resting on circular bases decorated with palmettes and gadrooned friezes.
A fine French work from the Empire period circa 1810, the quality of execution and knowledge of this model means that we attribute these candlesticks to the famous bronze maker Claude Galle.
Sizes: H 11.22 Inches. - D 5.51 Inches.
Sizes with lampshades: H 20.07 Inches. - Diameter lamp shade 11.81 Inches.
These beautiful collectible candlesticks are in fine original condition. Our flambeaux were formerly drilled for electricity at the base. They have been mounted as lamps and are fitted with very pretty new shades in Empire green silk with gold interiors.
The candlesticks are professionally wired for electricity for Europe and USA on request.
We realize at your request lampshades to measure in pleated silk.
Biography:
Claude Galle (1759-1815).
Claude Galle is regarded as one of the finest bronze makers of the late Louis XVI and Empire periods. He was born in Villepreux, near Versailles. Galle was apprenticed to Pierre Foyin in Paris, whose daughter he married in 1784. He became a master bronze founder in 1786. After the death of his father-in-law in 1788, Galle took over his workshop. He soon made it one of the best bronze workshops in Paris and eventually employed around four hundred craftsmen. He moved to Quai de la Monnaie (now Quai de l'Unité), then in 1805 to 9 rue Vivienne.
Galle received numerous commissions from the royal family (Garde-Meuble de la Couronne) from 1786 to 1788. He worked with masters such as Pierre-Philippe Thomire and supplied most of the bronze furnishings for the Château de Fontainebleau under the Empire. He also supplied gilded bronzes for the palaces of Saint-Cloud, Trianons, Tuileries, Compiègne, and Rambouillet. Works by Galle form part of the collections of museums such as the Musée National du Château de Malmaison, the Musée Marmottan in Paris, the ‘Museo de Reloges’ in Jerez de la Frontera, The Residenz in Munich, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Claude Galle died in 1815, after which his son Gérard-Jean Galle (1788-1846) continued the business.
References:
Collection du château de Fontainebleau.
Collection du Mobilier National, Inv.nr. GML 3336.
Jean-Pierre Samoyault, « Pendules et bronzes d’ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire », 1989, p. 177 #158.
Marie-France Dupuy-Baylet, « L’heure, le feu, la lumière. Les bronzes du Mobilier National 1800-1870 », p.64.
