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Candlestick
Webb, Philip Speakman, born 1831 - died 1915 - Enlarge image
Candlestick
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
ca. 1860 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Webb, Philip Speakman, born 1831 - died 1915 (designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Copper
- Museum number:
M.1130A-1926
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 125g, case 4
Object Type
This is one of a pair of candlesticks (with Museum Number M.1130-1926) made for use rather than display. Candles were still the dominant method of lighting in the mid-19th century, although oil and gas were becoming more widely used.
People
The architect Philip Webb (1831-1915) originally designed these candlesticks for the designer William Morris (1834-1896) and his wife Jane (born about 1840) to use at their new home. They moved to the Red House, Bexleyheath, Kent, which had been designed by Webb, in 1860. From 1871 Morris rented Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, where both copper and brass examples of these candlesticks can still be seen. Although surviving candlesticks in this design are rare, they were popular with the partners of Morris's decorating firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. This pair was purchased from the business by a founder member, the artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898).
Design & Designing
Philip Webb trained as an architect with William Morris at the office of George Edmund Street (1824-1881). He became one of the founding members of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. The decorating firm drew inspiration from the medieval arts of many different countries. The choice of copper as the material for these candlesticks reflects these influences, while their form derives directly from 15th-century examples from Nuremberg, Germany.
