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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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A very fine pair of Empire period Russian gilt bronze candlesticks, each with a cast beaded nozzle above fluting and a foliate band, the stem with knurled decoration with a running upwardly spiralled band enclosing a frieze of anthemion, lyres and winged griffins, above an acanthus band and oval reserves framing wreath entwined vases, on a circular domed foot cast with winged putti riding chariots drawn by winged horses on clouds Russian, date circa 1830 Height 30 cm. each. The decorative effect on these candlesticks was created by knurling. This technique involved the use of a steel roller into which the required patterns would had been incised. As a knurling tool was used to press patterns into a round section it was admirably suited for decorating the stems of candlesticks. The effect can be compared with another gilt bronze candlestick of similar overall design made during the 1830’s in the workshop of Yakov Samarin, now in the State History Museum of Moscow (illustrated in Arcadi Gaydamak, “Russian Empire”, 2005, p. 89). The subject matter is clearly inspired by antiquity and in particular the spiralled running band around the stems is reminiscent of the Trojan Column in Rome, which was frequently copied and engraved. |