Silver, London hallmarks for 1757-8, mark of Edward Wakelin

Silver candlesticks with octagonal bases chased and cast with foliage, shells and scrolls and pendants and swags, with fluted baluster stems chased with acanthus foliage with vase- shaped sockets

Purchased with Art Fund support and assistance from the Hugh Phillips Bequest

Exhibition RF.2004.894
Historical significance: These candlesticks are one of two pairs commissioned by George William, 6th Earl of Coventry (1722-1809) an outstanding patron of the architecture and the decorative arts and an early enthusiast for the neo-classical taste. William Kent's earlier design was adapted to incorporate neo-classical ornament including the band of Vitruvian scrollwork beneath the nozzle and the festoons on the octagonal base. The base is engraved with the crest of the Earls of Coventry 'a garb or, lying fesseways, thereon a cock gu., combed, wattled and legged of the first' surmounted by an Earl's coronet.

Edward Wakelin charged Lord Coventry £134 4s 8d for the '2 pr fine Wroat Candlesticks and Nozils 188 ozs, 10 dwts'. The engraving of the four crests and coronets cost an additional 4 shillings. This information is taken from the Gentlemen's Ledgers in the Garrards' Archives in the V&A's Archive of Art and Design. These archives cover the history of Garrards firm founded by George Wickes (1698-1761) in the 1730s. Edward Wakelin joined Wickes at his premises in Panton Street, near the Haymarket in 1747.

The other pair of candlesticks from this set were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2003-4. These candlesticks are particularly appropriate additions to the Victoria and Albert Museum collections. The British Galleries display the library bookcases from Croome Court, 1763 and the Coventry House mirror, 1770-1772, both spectacular examples of Lord Coventry's patronage of Robert Adam as a designer of interior furnishings.

These candlesticks reflect the sophisticated taste of the patron, George, 6th Earl of Coventry(1722-1809) for whom they were made. His patronage of the architect Robert Adam(1728-1792) can still be studied in the park buildings and interiors of his country house Croome Court, Worcestershire and his London home, Coventry House, Piccadilly. The candlesticks are characteristic of the quality of the silver associated with their supplier Edward Wakelin (1717-1784). The design is based on one by the architect William Kent which was published by John Vardy as Plate 21 in Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. William Kent, 1744. The re-working of Kent's early design in a neo-classical vein, nine years after that architect's death, is of particular interest as these may be the earliest documented English neo-classical candlesticks. 1757 marks a watershed in the history of English taste. Robert Adam returned from Italy in 1758 heralding the new style of interior decoration, and Lord Coventry was one of his earliest English patrons. William Kent anticipated the work of Robert Adam by designing a wide range of interior features in harmony with their architectural setting. These candlesticks were used on the dining table at Coventry House, London and Croome Court, Worcestershire, in a setting redesigned by Robert Adam.

The V&A Drawings Collection has a composite later 18th century drawing for a silver candlestick and nozzle derived from two candlestick designs by William Kent published by John Vardy (Museum number D.651-1886). Like the Croome Court candlesticks this design drawing demonstrates the contemporary practice of using published designs creatively as inspiration for a new form. The influence of William Kent as a designer of silver endured well beyond his own time. Four silver candlesticks supplied by Paul Storr in 1814-15, on loan to the V&A since 1968, were inspired by the same Kent design.

The earliest documented English silver candlesticks in the neo-classical style, they were based on a design by architect William Kent, published in 1744 but modified to incorporate bands of Vitruvian scrollwork beneath the nozzles and festoons on the octagonal bases. The maker, Edward Wakelin, joined the goldsmith George Wickes in Panton Street, off the Haymarket in 1747. His firm eventually became Garrards and the archives of this business include a complete record of all the silver which George 6th Earl of Coventry acquired from Edward Wakelin and his successors between 1751 and 1792. These candlesticks are two from a set of four, which on 8th May 1758 cost £134 4s 8d with an additional charge of 4s for engraving the crests.

M.48-2003