57. PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRES WORKSHOP (sculptor and bronze foundry in Paris, 1751-1843) attributed, a pair of candelabras, high class Paris works in the empire, 1810s, for each four candles, frosted and polished burnt-gilt and dark-patinated bronze.

Octagonal footplate, round postament with roulette decor, waist with ribbon of lace and bows, hemisphere crowned by the goddess of victory Viktoria, bearing laurel wreath with flared arms of light, plant ornamentation, loose cuffs, height 74 cm

Compare chandeliers in Stora bedkammaren, Guest floor, Stockholm Castle

LITERATURE: Hans Ottomeyer & Peter Pröschel: Vergoldete Bronzen, bands I-II, Munich 1986, page 328, fig. 5.2.1., compare Charles Percier's sketches to Josephine Bonaparte's boudoir in the Château de Saint-Cloud
August Hahr: The Swedish royal pleasure castles, Stockholm 1899, page 154, compare the candelabras in Queen Josefina's gallery, Drottningholm Palace

French magnificent bronzes have an almost 200-year-old tradition in the Swedish royal table through French-born Charles XIV Johan, who during his reign undertook a comprehensive update of the table set, in the form of exclusive table sets, etagères, candelabras, plateaus and table decorations. King Charles XIV Johan facilitated the export of Swedish porphyry from the Älvdalen valley through the counter purchase of bronzes, glass, porcelain and damask from Paris. Imports of burnt-gilt bronzes were extensive, and in 1824 the Swedish ambassador in Paris, Gustaf Löwenhielm, was instructed to restrict the importation of bronzes as the king's storehouses were filled to the brim. A variant of the auction's candelabra can be found in the Stora bedkammaren, the Guest Floor, Stockholm Castle (see last picture), but also elsewhere in the royal collections.

The most famous and successful of the Paris masters was Pierre-Phillipe Thomire, whose workshop supplied large quantities of burnt-gilt bronzes of the highest order to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Tsar Alexander I and King Charles XIV John. During the epoch, the French Empire blossomed and Thomire's never-ending idiom became a model for his professional brothers Feuchère, Galle and Ravrio, as well as for domestic manufacturing in the great European cities.

The model is based on the figure of the Roman goddess of victory Viktoria Romana, a sculpture from the 2nd century AD, found in the Italian town of Fossombrone. In 1777, the figure was bought by Landgrave Freidrich II of Hesse and in 1804 it was seized by the French army and ended up in the Louvre. In Paris, Viktoria Romana came to be one of the most important role models for designers during the Empire, the motif gained popularity through the designs of Emperor Napoleon's prominent designers Charles Percier (1764—1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762—1853). Nowadays, the so-called Viktoria of Fossombrone is included in the collections at Schloss Wilhelmshöhe outside Kassel, Germany.