The set of six candelabra athéniennes, which decorated the Great Assembly Hall after its completion in 1781, was initially intended for the Portrait Room. This was part of Victor Louis’s earlier renovation designs dating from 1765–81, which are preserved in the Print Room of the Warsaw University Library. The interior, meticulously designed by the renowned French architect, boasted two corner fireplaces and a beautiful burnished steel table decorated with gilded bronzes. The light from the two pairs of candelabra placed on the mantelpieces was to be reflected by two narrow mirrored panels set on both sides of a larger central mirror in such a way as to increase the effect of their illumination. The other two candelabra were to be placed by the wall with windows, on the bleu-turquin marble columns flanking the table. In order to help Caffieri capture accurately the proportions of the candelabra, so they would harmonize with the glazed panes and panelling, Louis had a wooden model of this part of the room made. The candelabra were modelled, cast, chiselled, and gilded before 2 September 1768 as evidenced by their description in a court report of a search conducted in Caffieri’s studio on that day: six antique tripods, made of chiselled and burnished gilded bronze are estimated, given their shape, ornaments, form and weight, at 24,000 (livres). The most prominent element of the candelabra is an antique tripod that serves as the base for a candle holder. The three lion’s paw feet decorated with heavy rose garlands spiral up at the top into enormous volutes on which four cornucopias (horns of plenty) form the branches. From each horn their protrudes a holder for a candle, surrounded by various fruit. The base is a heavy smooth-sided slab. Such a large unadorned, smooth element, appealing only through its surface of polished gold, was a frequent compositional element of á la grec bronzes. Caffieri’s candelabra, perfectly cast and very-well chiselled, bear his signature: fait par Caffieri, or even more detailed inscriptions including the address: Caffiery rue Princesse faubourg St. Germain a Paris, and the dates: from 1766 to 1768. Such meticulous signatures are rare for decorative bronzes, even the best of which often remain anonymous. The descriptions of additional, related work estimated at 600 livres and documented either with receipts or a statement by the craftsman, show that the candelabra, in their present form, underwent significant changes in relation to the original design. The clerks who were responsible for describing and estimating all the work carried out noted the following: silver-plating of six consoles, two incense burners and two supports; removing silver; re-chiselling; preparing consoles for gilding; similar work with two console supports and console knobs reshaping of two incense burners. The note shows that Louis originally intended to silver-plate larger parts of the candelabra. It can be assumed that the idea was they should match the natural colour of the steel on the console table made for the Portrait Room. Two of the candelabra were to stand on the table while the remaining two were to be placed on the columns on either side of it. The greyish-silver tones of the steel elements of the table together with the silver-plated candelabra was to harmonize with the greyish bleu turquin marble of the table top, of the columns and the fireplaces. The steel structure of the table was ornamented with gilded bronzes, which gave the effect of gold interwoven with silver. Louis probably wanted to achieve the same effect when plating individual parts of the candelabra with gold and silver. This gold- and silver-toned colour scheme, however, was not approved by the King, and, despite the costs already incurred, it was decided to gild the entire surface of the candelabra, therefore taking the form that is known to us today.