Important pair of Louis XVI style candlesticks; France, c. 1890

Important pair of Louis XVI style candlesticks; France, c. 1890.
Mercury gilt bronze; marble.
Manuactura Millet (Paris) Signed.
Measurements: 87 x 56 x 40 cm.

Pair of Louis XVI style six-light candelabra made of mercury gilded bronze and marble. Each piece rests on a prismatic marble base, of sober lines, from which rise four stylized legs in the form of a ram's foot. These elegantly curved legs join at a central stem that helps support the main body of the candelabra.

The marble tank presents an important contrast: the lower part, carved as a hemisphere, is surrounded by a delicate application of openwork bronze decorated with Vitruvius' wave motif, while the upper part adopts a concave surface with an elegant set of gadroons arranged on a slant.

From the crown emerge five bronze arms profusely decorated with acanthus leaves and plant motifs, which open gracefully around a central burner slightly raised above the rest.