Five-light candelabrum (one of a pair)

Art Historical Context

This exquisite five-light candelab, one of a pair by the renowned French sculptor Clodion (Claude Michel) around 1785, exemplifies playful elegance of late Louis XVI decorative arts. Standing over 45 inches tall on a serpentine marble base, it dynamic gilt and patinated bronze forms, likely animated by frolicsome satyrs—Clodion's signature motif drawn from classical mythology. These mischievous woodland spirits, with their lively poses and sensual curves, evoke the Rococo spirit even as neoclassical restraint emerges in the era's opulent interiors. Gilt bronze, a hallmark of 18th-century Fren...