Please complete the form to email this item.

Candlestick - Bodendick Candlestick

Bodendick Candlestick

  • Object:

    Candlestick

  • Place of origin:

    London, England (made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1665 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Bodendick, Jacob (maker)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Silver gilt, embossed and chased

  • Credit Line:

    Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Hugh Phillips Bequest Fund and the Murray Bequest

  • Museum number:

    M.261A&C-1984

  • Gallery location:

    Silver, room 65, case 3, shelf 2

  • Download image

Object Type
Candlesticks were an essential part of every home at this time, used either with expensive wax candles or cheaper tallow tapers. Silver or silver-gilt candlesticks were generally used by the wealthy. Poorer people often used pewter or brass. The refined decoration of this object shows the influence of the French court over Restoration England.

People
Jacob Bodendick was a goldsmith of German birth who was active in England between 1660-80. He was born in Germany and arrived in London around 1660. He worked for the court of Charles II and produced metalwork for the King's Jewel House.

Foreign or 'alien' goldsmiths working for the royal court aroused the anger of the Goldsmiths' Company, provoking complaints about the unemployment of native goldsmiths. In 1664 Bodendick presented a letter from Charles II to the Wardens of the Goldsmiths' Company, ordering them to mark and assay his work to allow him to sell it in the same way as a native goldsmith. In his letter the King gave assurances that Bodendick and other alien goldsmiths should 'imploy his Native subjects and not strangers in their manufacture'.

Design & Designing
The clustered column and ogee-shaped base were particularly popular in The Netherlands in the 1640s. However, the acanthus decoration on the foot is a French innovation made popular from the 1650s through the engravings the Italian etcher and draughtsman Stefano della Bella. This is a wonderful example of the large and flamboyant tableware and furnishing silver of Restoration England.

Physical description

The sockets and drippans are formed as clustered columns, and the bases, which are richly chased and embossed with acanthus, echo their 'Gothic' ogee form. The coat of arms of George Tooke of Hertfordshire (d. 1662) and his second wife Anne Conningsbury is engraved on the base of one of the sockets.

Place of Origin

London, England (made)

Date

ca. 1665 (made)

Artist/maker

Bodendick, Jacob (maker)

Materials and Techniques

Silver gilt, embossed and chased

Marks and inscriptions

'IB' above a crescent between two mullets within a shield
monogram

Dimensions

Height: 25 cm, Width: 23.6 cm, Depth: 23 cm

Object history note

Made in London by Jacob Bodendick (born in Limberg an der Lahn, Germany, active in London about 1664-1688)

Historical significance: This pair is a rare survivor of the richly embossed silver of the 1660s; most of Bodendick's candlesticks date from the following decade, when the rich acanthus ornament was replaced by plainer forms.

Historical context note

The Restoration coincided with a marked increase in the use of silver candlesticks, as part of the English response to French domestic refinements. Not only the aristocracy but also institutions and the bourgeoisie (Samuel Pepys for one) expected to use silver, rather than pewter, candlesticks.

Descriptive line

Candlestick, silver, English, 17th century

Exhibition History

Treasures for the Nation, The Work of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (British Museum 01/10/1988-28/02/1989)

Labels and date

These handsome candlesticks, richly chased with acanthus leaf, a popular motif in the mid-17th century, are typical of the elaborately decorated metalwork of the 1660s. The lobed candleholder, shaped like Gothic columns, were popular from the 1640s to about 1680.
The base of one candleholder has been cut from a piece of silver engraved with the arms of George Tooke (1595 - c. 1662)
British Galleries:
This candlestick is a rare survial from the 1660s. It is formed as a cluster of columns, decorated with the strong, curling, Classical acanthus leaves that were a characteristic Restoration motif. Jacob Bodendick, the maker, was a German-born silversmith who brought new design ideas from the Continent. [27/03/2003]

Materials

Silver

Techniques

Gilding; Chasing; Embossing

Categories

British Galleries

Collection code

MET

Download image
Qr_O80737
Ajax-loader