Pair of Torchères Front

Torchères (candlestands) were made to support candelabra, but they also served as lively decorative pieces in their own right. Here, intricately-carved dragons, flowers, and grotesque masks exemplify the fanciful heights and extravagant forms achieved by international craftsmen in the mid-1700s. Crushed and gilded glass set into each base provide a contrasting textural surface to the burnished gilding above.

This large pair is similar to a set of four torchères designed by the architect Pieter de Swart and carved by the Italian sculptor Agostino Carlini for the Dutch royal palace Huis ten Bosch (House in the Woods) in the Hague.