C1750 Louis XV French Candlesticks

$1,850.00 PAIR


C1750 Louis XV French Candlesticks $1850 Pr

This delightful pair of baroque period, mid-18th cnetury, Louis XV brass candlesticks have been brought back to their original brightness and lacquered, as they would have been originally, so all they need is a light dust periodically: no polishing.

Brass candlesticks in the 18th century were usually coated with something, not left bare matel that required regular polishing. Many were lacquered with a yellowish lacquer or varnish to similate gilding. Many were silvered to make them look like expensive solid silver: a silver solution was rubbed over the surface and the silver adhered to the copper in the brass. Clock dials were similarly silvered. (This is well before electoplating.) Luxury ones were gilded, the gold being applied in mercury, with the mercury being driven off with heat. Very dangerous! 18th century gilders were very well paid for their dangerous craft and short lives. Some were also japanned black, green, blue, red or yelllow, and sometimes painted with flowers or oriental motifs. Almost none of this decoration on brass or copper survives.

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