Age and other info on a pair of candlestics

Hi.
I have an old pair of brass or bronze candlestics that I'm curious about the age of.
I inherited them from my grandparents, who themselves inherited them. I live in Norway, so these would be European.
My grandparents claimed these candlestics were from the 16th century, but I don't think that is correct.
The style looks baroque to me. Im guessing they are made in France in the 18th century. The pattern looks like mistletoe to me.
The candlesticks are sand cast and pretty heavy. It looks like a lot of work has been put into engraving them after the casting. The best way I can describe the color is that it is soft. The underside is a bit rough, but has obviously been finished after the casting.







At first glance they look identical, but when you study the details, it becomes evident that there is a lot of individuality to them.




Any thoughts appreciated.

 

Ummm........... WOW!
How's that?

 

What King said!

 

Those are beautiful!

Welcome to Antiquers, Elysia!

 

Size? Most anything bronze with that level of detail was cast using "lost wax" method for the outside, but a removable core of sand-like material may have been used inside.

 

I'm not a styles expert by any stretch, but Art Noveau comes to mind when I look at those, so the best guess at a timeframe of manufacture would be 1890-1910, roughly the Art Noveau period. Since there are no maker's marks, it is possible that this pair is unique, a one-time project or order.

 

The styling might be art nouveau, but I think these are much more nouveau than that. I suspect in the last decade or so, but I have nothing to back that up other then a vague impression.

 

Very nice pieces. I might think these are French Rococo but am no expert. If period, this would put them within the reign of Louis XV or 18th century. I would think these should be gilt bronze rather than brass if of the period. I was not able to find any very similar but looking at several, I do think they could fit within the style.

 

Well, they are definitely older than the last decade, as they have been sitting in my living room longer than that ;-)

The style might fit art nouveau, but I don't think they are from this period. I have a couple of reasons for thinking they are older. First of all, as far as I know, they have been in the family since before the art nouveau period. Secondly, if they were as new as that, I'm pretty sure my grandparents would have known. They were pretty well informed on the age and origin of their antiques. The third reason is the amount of wear the candlesticks have. They have a rounded softness that shows they have been handled a lot over a long period of time. As they don't tarnish, and have not been polished in at least 50 years, it would require quite a bit of handling for the wear to show. These are things that are difficult to show in photos, but become evident when you have the actual item.
As i said, I doubt my grandparents 16th century dating on these, but I find it very hard to date such items. There are styles that become popular in different time periods, but you always have the odd pieces that would be placed in a different century if style was all you had to go on.

I have been trying to date these for years, and I think french baroque/rococo is the best fit.

They are 9cm tall, and the base is roughly 9cm in diameter. Weight is 500 g each.

 

Here's a Met page on related items. I noticed the bases of the candlesticks shown had an odd shape similar to OP's. Interesting to learn how two different guilds once worked on such items in sequence, then later merged.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gilt/hd_gilt.htm

The top rims of OP's items are separate pieces which may be a way to date them more precisely, IOW when were removable rims for cast bronze candlesticks first introduced, if anyone knows.

 

Interesting link. Mine seem to be some of the rare few that were not gilded. When I study them closely, there seem to be traces of varnish in some spots.

The texts I have been able to dig up on the development of candlestic design all focus on English silver. They agree that removable rims (nozzles) became widespread around 1720-1740.