Pair of candlesticks

Pair of candlesticks "a l'Afrique". Directory period, ca. 1795.
Gilded and patinated bronze.
Porcelain eyes.
Measurements: 42 cm. height.

Pair of sculptural candlesticks of great quality. It is a decorative typology that came into vogue in the eighteenth century based on the rise of exoticism. The best bronze and cabinetmakers were employed in their manufacture. Here, the two torcheros represent African boys made in patinated bronze. The blackness of their bare skin contrasts with the golden bronze of the beaded necklace and the cloth wrapped around them in the form of short skirts, embroidered and decorated with pompoms and bangs. The statuettes are placed on drum-shaped bases and hold a candlestick in each hand. The candlesticks evoke torches and are surmounted by large lampshades with a gadrooned base.

Throughout the 18th century, influenced by the cabinetmaker and sculptor Andrea Brustolon (the first author of exotic furniture with African sculptures), but also by the philosophical writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who extolled the moral virtues of a return to Nature through the myth of the "good savage", the fashion for exoticism was particularly rooted in decoration, art and literature. Hence the prodigious literary success of "Paul et Virginie" by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre in 1788, a distant heir to the famous "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe.

It is in this context that the "African-style" candelabra shown here can be placed. The figures of black slaves as supports for furniture, as well as free-standing candlesticks, first appeared in Venice at the end of the 17th century, by Andrea Brustolon (1662 - 1732). His furniture was characterized by the abundant presence of round sculpture. His most characteristic figures were black figures such as the one presented here, ebonized and painted, which served as support for large pieces of furniture, or appeared free-standing. These figures were so popular throughout Europe that they became a key element in luxury Baroque furniture until well into the 18th century. Parallel to cabinetmaking, bronzes were developed. These are pieces of exceptional quality, conceived as independent works of art.