PAIR OF CANDLESTICKS,
"Retour d'Egypte" style, Empire, Paris ca. 1805.
Bronze, finely chiseled and parcel-gilt, and patinated brown.
H 33.5 cm.

The fascination with Egypt and the accompanying rediscovery of Egyptian decorative elements in Europe is based on the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt in 1789. Numerous illustrations of this expedition, such as those found in the well-known "Description de l'Egypte", a standard work of the French "Commission des Sciences et des Arts", spread an idealized image of the "Land of the Pharaohs" on the European continent.

This "Egyptomania" was not without criticism, even at the beginning of the 19th century, which is why the trend lasted only a few years (1798-1808). The pair of candlesticks on offer is an elegant and ornate testimony to the "Retour en Egypte" style. (Anne Dion-Tenenbaum, "L'Egyptomanie et les arts décoratifs français de la première moitié du 19e siècle" in " Dossier de l'Art" No. 17, February-March 1994, Edition Faton SA, Dijon, 1994, pp. 22-35)