Beschreibung:

cast and gilt bronze (2) 39.5cm wide, 64.5cm high, 18cm deep Provenance: Private collection, Belgium, until November 2022 Paul Shutler Literature: Barker M. 'An appraisal of Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879) and his influence' Decorative Art Society Journal No. 16, 1992 Note: Viollet-le-Duc, his business partner Jean-Baptiste Lassus (1807-1857) and Father Arthur Martin all supplied designs to Notre Dame during its 25-year post-revolution restoration from 1845. The design of the lower portion of these candelabra was initially found in a set of six ormolu pricket candlesticks made by Poussielgue-Rusand for Notre-Dame in 1862. Viollet-le-Duc's drawing for these is in the Heritage and Media Photographic Library at Cherenton-le-Pont, Paris. A set of six of the original pricket candlesticks designs was also used in the chapel of Saint Michael, Saint Raphael & Saint Gabriel at the Cathedral of Saint Julian of Le Mans, France. The pricket design was also exhibited by Poussielgue-Rusand at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle. The upper section of candle arms was designed by Father Arthur Martin, and it featured in Poussielgue-Rusand’s catalogues from 1853, initially as a wall-mounted candle arm. Father Arthur Martin was a talented draughtsman and collector of medieval art and materials. In the 1840s he and his fellow Jesuit Brother Charles Cahier (1807-1882) began interpreting and classifying the collection. Their work was then published by Placide Poussielgue-Rusand from 1847 onwards in the highly influential multi-volume publication on medieval art entitled 'Mélanges d’archéologie, d’histoire, et de littérature'. The upper portion of the candelabra can also be compared to the grilles designed by Viollet-le-Duc in 1865 for the Basilica of Saint-Denis, among other places. An engraving of these was published in the Gazette des Architectes et du Batiment, Vol. 3 1865 No. 9, p. 133. A pair of Viollet-le-Duc’s pricket-design candlesticks in lacquered bronze is in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago and an elaborate casket designed by Father Martin is in the collection of Notre Dame. Viollet-le-Duc's writings on decoration and on the relationship between form and function in architecture had a fundamental influence on a whole new generation of architects, including all the major Art Nouveau artists. His writings also influenced John Ruskin William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement, and William Burges admitted in his late life "We all cribbed on Viollet-le-Duc even though no one could read French."