{"product_id":"pair-of-antique-french-cast-bronze-candlesticks-with-cherub-masks","title":"Pair of Antique French Gothic Revival Bronze Candlesticks with Chimera and Cherub Masks","description":"\u003ch5\u003eAge \/ Period:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLate 19th to early 20th century, circa 1890–1930\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eOrigin \/ Source:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSourced in France\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eMeasurements:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e6.75” tall\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e3.25” across the base from leg to leg\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCast bronze \/ copper-alloy metal with internal threaded rod\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eDescription:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA pair of antique French Gothic Revival bronze candlesticks with cherub masks, chimera-form bases, shell motifs, architectural stems, and richly cast ornament from top to bottom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis pair belongs to the 19th-century historicist decorative arts tradition, when French and European design looked back to medieval, Renaissance, and Gothic architecture for form and ornament. The candlesticks are smaller in scale, but the casting gives them real presence: opposing cherub masks at the candle cups, fluted column-like stems, scalloped details, scrolling feet, and winged chimera-like creatures with lion and sea-beast qualities around the bases.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe surface is one of the strongest parts of the pair. The bronze has a warm, age-darkened finish with verdigris in the recesses, rubbed highlights on the raised ornament, old wax residue near the bases, and natural variation from casting and use. Each candlestick unscrews into three parts: the candle cup, central stem, and base.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI chose this pair for the density of the detail and the way they change everything around them. The shell work, scrolling feet, cherub faces, patterned candle cups, verdigris, and slight old lean all give the pair movement and tension. They can carry a vignette on their own, but they are especially good beside leather-bound books, where they make the whole arrangement feel darker, richer, and a little more mysterious. Paired with something primitive or plain, the contrast is even better: all that tightly cast ornament against raw wood, old paper, stoneware, or linen, where the fancy detail feels sharper, darker, and more interesting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eCondition:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition with visible age, patina, verdigris, surface wear, casting seams, and old wax residue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is some lean and tilt to the candlesticks, which is common with older assembled candlesticks made in threaded sections. The pieces unscrew and reassemble as intended. The aged finish, remaining wax, verdigris, casting irregularities, and softened high points have been left as found.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eHistorical or Decorative Notes:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese candlesticks are best understood within the French Gothic Revival and broader 19th-century revivalist decorative arts world, rather than as medieval objects themselves. The period often borrowed from earlier architectural language, including pointed Gothic forms, grotesques, chimeras, mascarons, shells, columns, and mythic creatures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe chimera-like figures around the bases connect visually to the same medieval architectural vocabulary associated with French cathedrals and the famous chimères of Notre-Dame in Paris: imaginative guardian-like creatures, masks, and beasts used as ornament. On this pair, that architectural language has been translated into small-scale bronze decoration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eUse \u0026amp; Styling:\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStrong on a mantel, writing desk, console, book stack, or tablescape. They are especially good with leather-bound books, antique paper, dark wood, primitive pieces, stoneware, old textiles, or gilt frames. Their small scale makes them easy to place, but the casting gives them enough drama to anchor the whole arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rue \u0026 Relique","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47215613837483,"sku":"MET-004","price":398.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0757\/9172\/8811\/files\/pair-antique-french-gothic-revival-bronze-candlesticks-chimera-cherub-masks.jpg?v=1781568427","url":"https:\/\/rueandrelique.com\/products\/pair-of-antique-french-cast-bronze-candlesticks-with-cherub-masks","provider":"Rue \u0026 Relique","version":"1.0","type":"link"}