''PAIR OF LARGE GIRANDOLES WITH THREE BRANCHES, CISELATED AND GORNED WITH GOLD on porcelain storks'' Louis XV period - Paris, circa 1750-1752 Polychrome porcelain; chased and gilt bronze Restorations H. 58 cm and H. 57.5 cm PROVENANCE Former Marquise de Pompadour collection, delivered by Lazare Duvaux on February 14, 1752 Former Nicolas Beaujon collection, Paris, Hôtel d'Evreux (attested in 1787) Former Feuchère collection (purchased by Lucien François Feuchère at the sale of the Hôtel d'Evreux collections, April 25, 1787, lot 325) AuctionArt Rémy Le Fur & Associés, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, December 4, 2019, lot 215 Private collection Our pair of candelabra consists of polychrome porcelain waders, leaning against a tree trunk au naturel and embellished by a group of Lingzhi mushrooms colored in shades of pink. These waders, referred to as storks in old inventories, are actually Japanese or Manchurian cranes - recognizable by the red spot on the head, the black beak, the neck outlined in the same color, and the black plumage on the wingtips and tail. Behind each bird is a second gilded bronze trunk from which three moving branches with leaves and small poppy fruits emerge, forming an arm of light. The jagged leaf bobbins support the binnacle, also in the shape of a poppy fruit. The whole rests on a terrace with rocaille mounted on a base with leaves forming volutes and openwork counter-volutes, also in gilt bronze. These lights are those supplied to the Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764) on February 14, 1752 by the merchant Lazare Duvaux (1703-1758), the famous "pair of large three-branched girandoles, chased & gilded with ground gold, on porcelain storks" appearing in his Book- Journal under the number 1049, invoiced 1,320 livres. The bronze poppies, the flower of sleep, suggest that they were intended for his bedroom. Another pair of bronze candlesticks, of smaller dimensions, decorated with storks in white Dehua porcelain, has long been thought to have been the one delivered by Lazare Duvaux to the Pompadour in 1752 (fig. 1). However, the gilded bronze mount of these candelabras from the former Balsan collection is stylistically related to the 1730-1740 period. The base forming the feet with strong rocaille are Regency and it is difficult to believe that Duvaux, following the fashion of the day, could have sold to the Marquise pieces whose style had gone out of fashion a decade ago! But above all, this pair is in white porcelain and not, like ours, in polychrome porcelain. While we thought that the trace of the candelabras was lost after the death of the Marquise de Pompadour in 1763, we find it again in 1787 during the dispersion of the furniture and objets d'art contained in the Hôtel d'Évreux: "Two three-branched girandoles with ornamental scrolls and gilded bronze terraces, the middle decorated with a brown-tinted Chinese porcelain stork perched on a tree trunk in porcelain. At the end of 1753, the Marquise de Pompadour had acquired the Hôtel d'Évreux, now the Palais de l'Elysée, which after her death in 1763 became the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs extraordinaires by royal decision. The contents were not inventoried and were thus removed from the Estate. It was then acquired in 1773 by Nicolas Beaujon (1718-1786). At the death of this powerful banker and great collector, the Hôtel was finally inventoried and the collections dispersed. Our candelabras were sold on April 25, 1787, under number 325, and acquired on this occasion by Lucien François Feuchère. They will reappear in 2019 in a sale by Me Le Fur in Paris. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To Mr. Calin Demetrescu who authorized us to publish the contents of his research. To the Cabinet Etienne-Molinier who completed this study by finding the mention of 1787.