Pair of ormolu torches representing a gilded bronze vase surmounted by two winged ibises carrying on their head two bobèches and a third one at the meeting of their wings. They rest on a blackened wood base decorated with fancy hieroglyphs.
The ibis is a sacred animal in Egypt, associated with the god Thoth, god of wisdom and the art of writing, it appears on many monuments and decorative objects.
The fascination exercised by Egypt reached its peak with the Napoleonic campaigns of 1798. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 rekindled interest in this land filled with mystery, symbols and above all exoticism. Egypt fascinates in all Europe, from the beginning of the 19th century, the architect Vulliamy in London realizes numerous drawings which will be taken back and realized between 1860 and 1880 in others clocks and candelabras.
