A pair of silver-gilt candlesticks with maker's mark of Charles Aldridge. England, London 1787-8.

Each candlestick consists of a detachable fluted stem rising from a fluted plinth of shaped square section, the detachable baluster upper part of the stem and vase-shaped socket are chased with further bands of fluting and varying foliage, the detachable circular wax-pan has fluted and ovolo bands. The stem is supported on three matted claw feet with fluted knees above supporting a broad detachable circular plate chased with palm foliage border and inner bands of arcading and alternate panels of differing formal foliage. Each candlestick is fully marked on the lower plates and part-marked on the reverse of the sockets and on the wax-pans.

two of four

These silver-gilt candlesticks are a reduced version of a Roman lamp stand which was available for study from 1772 in the British Museum. They are almost exactly a third of the size of the bronze original excavated from Herculaneum. The construction of the candlesticks follows the Roman lamp stand with its detachable tripod foot, circular plate, distinctive fluted and four-fold stem of cross-shape section and detachable crater-shaped top. The profile of the base of the candlesticks differs from the original model; the feet are in the form of lizards’ claws, whereas the Roman original has lions’ paws and legs which provide greater support for the weight of the bronze. Scientific testing confirms that the bases are contemporary and retain their original mercury gilding.

Historical significance: The Roman lamp stand came from the collection of Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) a first part of which was sold to the British Museum in 1772. Hamilton fostered a life-long ambition to raise European awareness of the importance of the decorative arts. In selling his collection to the British Museum, Hamilton was consciously aiming to promote good taste in contemporary manufacture. Hamilton’s collection encompassed Greek and Roman vases including the celebrated Portland and Warwick vases, cameos and bronzes. The astounding influence of Hamilton’s Greek vase collections on the British ceramic industry is well-known. Hamilton’s bronzes collection is less well-known and it has not previously been realised that it too was a source of inspiration for contemporary manufacturers.

William Beckford (1760-1844) is regarded as the first European patron to commission deliberately historicising metalwork, thus heralding a century of revivalism. His commissions for furniture and metalwork were closely linked to the functional needs of the interiors of his family home Fonthill Splendens and later Fonthill Abbey, which replaced the earlier Neo-Palladian house and was built on William Beckford’s order to the designs of the architect James Wyatt. The candlesticks also reflect the young William Beckford’s single-minded aesthetic; the decorative arts commissioned for Fonthill Splendens and its successor, Fonthill Abbey, deliberately harmonized with the architecture and interiors. Much of the metalwork made for Beckford was designed to his order by artists and sculptors in order to raise its aesthetic quality.

The London-based goldsmith Charles Aldridge, apprenticed to his uncle Edward Aldridge, is not generally known for the originality of his designs. By commissioning a copy of an antique bronze lamp stand, Beckford was demonstrating the rich source of inspiration at hand in the collections of classical antiquity already held by the British Museum – within twenty years of its foundation. The high quality of the chased decoration on the baluster upper part of the stems and vase-shaped socket and the lower plates indicate that the work was finished by one of the leading London goldsmiths, such as John Schofield who supplied William Beckford with silver in the early 1780s and 1790s.

The finishing was probably sub-contracted to a specialist, possibly the London goldsmith John Scofield by comparison with his other documented silver in the Lonsdale (Lowther) Collection

Attribution note: Two pairs of candlesticks of this design were recorded in the sale catalogue of William Beckford's Collection at Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire by 1822; Phillips, Fonthill Sale, 23 September – 22 October 1823, lot 1544 or 1545 as from the Green Damask Drawing Room; possibly the pair of ‘very elegant candelabra, on tripod feet – after those from Herculaneum – from Fonthill’; weighing 86 ozs from the 2nd Duke of Buckingham’s Sale, Stowe, Christie’s 15 August – 30 September 1848 lot 783

These silver-gilt candlesticks were supplied by the London goldsmith Charles Aldridge in 1787-8. They are based on a Roman bronze lamp stand excavated at Herculaneum in 1737 and acquired from Sir William Hamilton by the British Museum, 1772. They were made for William Beckford (1760-1844), the first European patron to commission deliberately historicising metalwork. They were recorded in the Grand Drawing Room at his home Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire in 1822. Visitors to Fonthill Abbey commented on the spectacular lighting effects achieved by rows of gilded candlesticks supported on stands at shoulder height.

M.2&3-2010