A Fine Pair of 19th Century Candelabra After Claude-Michel Clodion

After Claude-Michel Clodion

Each vase of tapering form applied with two grotesque masks hung with laurel garlands above a frieze cast in relief with depictions of putti pulling the drunken infant Silenus, surmounted by a waisted neck with central square candelabrum issuing six acanthus scrolled branches.

Claude Michael Clodion, [1738-1814], was the son-in-law of sculptor Augustin Pajou; he trained in Paris in the workshops of Lambert Sigisbert Adam, his maternal uncle and Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, the most successful sculptor of the time. After winning the Prix de Rome, he moved to Italy, sharing a studio with Jean-Antoine Houdon and studying antique, Renaissance, and Baroque sculpture.

In 1771 Clodion returned to Paris, where he continued to produce mostly in terracotta. He also worked with his brothers in other media, decorating objects such as candelabra, clocks, and vases. Drawing primarily from pagan antiquity, he created light-hearted terracotta sculptures that epitomized the Rococo style. Late in his life, when Neo-classical works were more popular, Clodion adjusted his style and worked on major public monuments in Paris.