This magnificent pair of candelabra in gilt and patinated bronze, combined with white marble, belongs to a small surviving group of examples of a rare French model from the 1780s. Two winged sphinxes in patinated bronze support a marble base, from which three scrolling light branches, adorned with rocaille foliage and clusters of grapes, extend outward, while a central shaft is surmounted by a caduceus the staff of Mercury with its entwined serpents crowned, at the very top, by outspread eagle wings.

On stylistic grounds, the pair can be attributed to the workshop of the eminent Parisian bronze-founder and gilder François Rémond. At this period, Rémond was among the most sought-after bronziers in Paris, working largely through the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre.

An almost identical pair of the same model can be found in the Grand Salon of Gustav III’s Pavilion at Haga, where they stand upon the porphyry fireplace. That the model was commissioned directly by Gustav III remains a plausible theory rather than a documented fact; during his journeys to Paris in 1770 and 1783–84, Gustav III established contacts with French craftsmen, and Daguerre was, at this time, Europe’s foremost supplier of luxury objects to royal courts.