Pair Of Silver Candlesticks By Christophe-françois Legast, Paris, 1773-1774

- Pair of candlesticks
- Cast and chased silver, decorative elements added and riveted
- By Christophe-François Legast, received master goldsmith in Paris in 1769
- Paris, 1773-1774 - Weight: 699g & 698g
- Dimensions: diameter (foot): 14 cm, height: 26.2 cm
- Almost perfect state of preservation, extremely fresh carving
- Provenance: private collection

- Pair of silver candlesticks, baluster shape. Each torch rests on a base contoured by three alternating sides, a movement structuring the entire torch. The umbilicus is decorated with chiseled reserves of amatis alternated with falls of laurels. The baluster shaft is enriched with an applied decoration of falling laurels supported by jagged shells holding the laurel festoons decorating the bulge of the shaft and acanthus leaves at its base. The vase-shaped binet decorated with clasps and florets on an amati background. The bobèches take up the cutout of the foot. In one of the reserves of the umbilicus are engraved the arms of the Brocas de La Nauze family (Ecartelé, 1st and 4th, Azure, a bend Argent, charged with 3 stars Gules; 2nd and 3rd , Argent, a chevron Gules, interlaced in a crescent Vert).

- Both by the structure and the arrangement of the ornaments, this pair of candlesticks complete with its candle holders is largely inspired by those produced by François-Thomas Germain and by the pupil of his father Louis-Joseph Lehendrick. The success of this model was such that it was produced both by provincial goldsmiths, such as Pierre-Bernard Durand in Marseilles, and by Parisian goldsmiths. However, our goldsmith was able to adapt this model to the taste of the day with neoclassical ornamentation of large laurel festoons instead of garlands of flowers, giving these candlesticks a neoclassical character that we find in the projects of Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain and Just Francois Boucher. The goldsmith Legast does not abandon the ornaments of the jagged shell and the clasp pattern still in a Rocaille style. These candlesticks produced for foreign countries are of an assertive “transition” style!

- Hallmarks (under the umbilicus): Charge: a bascinet flower flanked by ornaments and six fleurons for gold and small works of Paris, from October 1, 1768 to November 18, 1774 [1, n°466]; Jurande: K crowned for Paris from July 17, 1773 to July 16, 1774 [1, n°484]; Master goldsmith: CFL, a quintefeuille for Charles-François Legast, received master goldsmith on May 6, 1769 in Paris; discharge (on the edge of the base): a small cow for works of gold and minor works of silver passing abroad, Paris from October 1, 1768 to November 18, 1774 [1, n°474].

- Ref. : [1] Bimbenet-Privat & de Fontaine: "The dating of Parisian goldsmithing under the old regime", Paris musée, 1995; [2] Mabille, Gérard: “French silverware from the 16th 17th 18th centuries”, Museum of Decorative Arts, 1984; [3] Nocq: "The hallmark of Paris, Directory of master goldsmiths of the jurisdiction of Paris...", Paris, 5 volumes, reed. 1968; [4] Perrin, Christiane: "François Thomas Germain, goldsmith of kings", Editions d'Art Monelle Hayot, 1993