Created for Duke Karl after a sketch by Louis Masreliez.

The pair features a square base on a pedestal with four feet, adorned with a gadrooned canopy. The round pedestal is decorated with a kyma border and a pierced emblem of a laurel wreath, crossed arrows, and a torch. Atop a globe sits Jupiter’s eagle, holding a stylized lightning bolt in its beak. The candle holders are shaped like torches with smoke clouds, with a lightning bolt in the center. The outward-curving arms are decorated with leaf motifs and the face of Apollo.

Duke Karl, the younger brother of Gustav III, became guardian to his son, Gustav IV Adolf in 1792. During his guardianship, the duke had his own apartment in the palace. To furnish this apartment, the leading interior designer and decorator of the time, Louis Masreliez, was hired to assist with the decorations. The griffin, strongly associated with Karl, symbolizes his title as Duke of Södermanland.

Masreliez’s sketch inspired both the unique candelabras from the late 18th century and the six torchères created around 1810 for the Royal Household Chamber. These torchères were likely intended to be placed on either side of a coffin during a royal funeral, possibly for Crown Prince Karl August in 1810 or Dowager Queen Sophia Magdalena in 1813.