Candlestick

Object Type
Candlesticks were essential domestic equipment. Before the 1780s, candles were the chief source of artificial light. Candlesticks could be made of a variety of materials, including silver, pewter, brass, ceramics or glass. They were used all over the house and moved from place to place as required. The small size of this candlestick, at a time when candlesticks and candelabra for the table were increasing in height, suggests that it was perhaps intended for the drawing room or library rather than the dining room. Candles could be made of tallow (animal fat), bees-wax or spermaceti (whale oil). Tallow was the cheapest of the three. Even in the grandest households the use of candles was limited unless entertaining. In 1774, Lady Leicester at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, was reported to sew every night by the light of a single candle.

Manufacture & Design
This candlestick is made of Sheffield plate, a fusion of copper and silver, discovered in 1742 by a Sheffield cutler, Thomas Boulsover (1704-1788). It imitates the appearance of solid silver, but at less than half the cost. It is made from die-stamped sections soldered together. The candlestick form was well suited to the technical innovation of die stamping. In this technique, where relief decoration was formed in thin sheets of metal, such as Sheffield plate or silver, the ornament could be assembled in a variety of combinations to provide a vast supply of models, differing from each other in only one or two details. This candlestick in the Neo-classical style uses a range of classically inspired ornament, including the urn, a fluted column and swags.