Pair of Chiselled Bronze Candle Holders with Cobras, Art Deco, French Work,

The cobra rises from a compact base, hood expanded and scales rendered with the precision of the finest chiselling — each scale defined, the musculature of the coiled body taut and anatomically observed. Standing at nineteen centimetres, these candlesticks are objects of concentrated power, the serpent transformed from a creature of threat into an instrument of domestic light, its head raised forming the binet with a naturalness that appears effortless but must have required considerable skill. The dark patina of the bronze — rich, deep, and warm — enhances the drama of the form and flatters the reptilian texture of the chiselling. The cobra is among the most powerful symbols of the rich vocabulary of exotic imagery in Art Deco. The fascination with movement towards Egypt was dramatically heightened by the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter in November 1922 — an event whose cultural resonances spanned fashion, architecture, jewellery, and the decorative arts for two decades. The uræus serpent, royal emblem of the pharaohs, became one of the defining motifs of the Egyptomania of Art Deco, appearing on bronze furniture, desk objects, and jewellery by the finest Parisian designers. But the cobra also drew from the broader Orientalist tradition — the snake charmer, the cobra from Indian baskets — which gave Art Deco its exhilarating range of exotic references, from Marrakech to Angkor Wat. In pairs, these candlesticks offer something that a single example could not provide — the bilateral symmetry of two snakes facing each other from one end to the other of a mantelpiece creates a theatrical tension entirely appropriate to the symbolic role of the serpent. They are exceptional objects in any setting: at nineteen centimetres, small enough for an intimate desk or dressing table, yet possessing a presence that commands rather than simply occupies their space. Collectors...