A pair of Régence gilt-bronze mounted Chinese (Zhuang Zhou) glazed stoneware five-light Qilin dragon candelabra, the mounts circa 1720

Galerie Kugel, Paris.

S. Catelluccio, Le goût pour les porcelaines de Chine et du Japon à Paris aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle, Saint-Rémy-en-L’Eau, 2013.

D. Alcouffe, A. Dion-Tenenbaum, G. Mabille, Les bronzes d’ameublement du Louvre, Dijon, 2004.

This rare pair of Parisian gilt-bronze mounted Chinese earthenware candelabra illustrates the fascination for the Far East at the beginning of the 18^th century when the luxury trade was handled by the marchands-merciers. A related candelabra is in the Louvre Collection.

The Qilin, a fantastic animal from Chinese mythology, a mixture of horse and dragon, also borrows certain features from the deer or the wolf, and symbolises peace, happiness and fertility. This pair of bronze-glazed Qilin, with stylized scales, were transformed into candelabra under the supervision of a merchant-mercier during the first quarter of the 18th century. A pair of candelabra now in the musée du Louvre with a porcelain buddhist lion with green, yellow and violet decoration, from the legacy of Mr and Mrs Grog-Carven (inv. OA 10552), also received gilt-bronze arms and base during this period. The aesthetic similarities between these two examples of precious Chinese objects illustrate the taste in Paris for ‘chinoiserie’ that continued throughout the 18th century. The shapes of the candlearms and the bases are reminiscent of the work of the early 18th-century goldsmiths, and reflect the influence of craftsmen such as Ballin and Delaunay. A pair of seven-light candelabra sold by Sotheby's in Paris on 20 October 2005, lot 25, is perfectly in keeping with this aesthetic.