Snuffer thumbnail 1
Snuffer thumbnail 2
+29
images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Metalware, Room 116, The Belinda Gentle Gallery

Snuffer

1680 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

These brass snuffers were used to extinguish the flame and trim the wick of a candle. Candles were expensive and required a lot of maintenence so an accessory like a pair of snuffers was a costly luxury item.

This pair of snuffers is from a distinct group of 17th-century cast and enamelled brasswares that include stirrups, mirror-frames, fire-dogs, sconces, badges and sword-hilts. The colours used for the enamelling were limited to matt black, white, blue, green, yellow and red and the cast work is usually roughly finished. Some have Royalist associations including badges decorated with the Royal arms.

The items in the group are distinguished by their method of production: the fields to be enamelled were cast in the original moulds and not, as was more common, engraved (champlévé) or enclosed (cloisonné). They were for a long time referred to as Surrey Enamels after the author Charles R. Beard ascribed their manufacture to a factory in Esher, Surrey, but documentary evidence makes a strong case for their reattribution to the London workshops of Anthony Hatch and Stephen Pilcherd.

Hatch, a prominent member of the Armourers and Braziers Company, supplied an enamelled brass chimney piece to the Company, which was placed in the Court Room. This was presumably similar in style to the other enamelled wares from this group, which of course included other wares associated with fireplaces. Hatch worked with Pilchard, another member of the Armourers and Braziers Company.

The comparatively small output of work and the repeated use of identical moulds for the stems of candlesticks, firedogs and cups suggests these objects are the products of one workshop or partnership. Even domestic wares decorated with enamel would have been expensive, which implies that the workshop that produced them would have had a small but comparatively wealthy clientele.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Brass, cast and enamelled
Brief description
Pair of snuffers; Enamelled brass ('London Enamel' formerly 'Surrey Enamel'), the enamels of light blue and white, probably made by Anthony Hatch and Stephen Pilcherd, London, ca. 1680
Physical description
Brass snuffers with a rectangular box and closing plate surmounted by rectangular top with point ogee ends, the handles of flattened brass with decorative protrusions behind the central rivet and close to the oval grips. The snuffers have been cast in 5 sections, each with the fields for enamelling cast in the mould, as is characteristic of these brasswares. The enamelling is of light blue and white and the patterns on the sides of the box included 4-leaf clovers and double scrolls. The three-sided snuffing box has been rivetted to its handle to avoid heating with solder once the enamels have been fired.
Dimensions
  • Length: 200mm
  • Handles width: 65mm
  • Box height: 38mm
Style
Object history
The snuffers are from a group of rare cast and enamelled brasswares that date from ca. 1645 to ca. 1685. Other types include stirrups, mirror-frames, fire-dogs, sconces, badges, spurs and sword-hilts. The colours used for the enamelling were limited to matt black, white, blue, green, yellow and red and the cast work is usually roughly finished. Some have Royalist associations including badges decorated with the Royal arms. All appear to originate from a single workshop, that of Anthony Hatch and Stephen Pilchard of London.

The brasswares are distinguished by their method of construction which involves casting the fields for enamelling in the mould, and not, as was more common, engraved (champlévé) or enclosed (cloisonné). The borders between the fields are quite thick and form part of the design. The enamels have a rough and ready feel to them but the market was overwhemingly aristocratic. Their aesthetic qualities might be compared with contemporary needlework on bedhangings, the borders of slipware and the wrigglework engraving on silver and pewter.

These brasswares were for a long time referred to as Surrey Enamels after the author Charles R. Beard ascribed their manufacture to a factory in Esher, Surrey, but documentary evidence makes a strong case for their reattribution to the London workshops of Anthony Hatch and Stephen Pilcherd. Hatch, a prominent member of the London livery company, The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Braziers, supplied an enamelled brass chimney piece to the Company, which was placed in the Court Room. This was presumably similar in style to the other enamelled wares from this group, which of course included other wares associated with fireplaces. Hatch worked with Stephen Pilchard, another member of the Armourers and Braziers Company.

Among this group of enamelled brasswares, the snuffers are extremely rare. "'Surrey' Enamels Reattributed Part 2: An Illustrated Listing of Known Types" published by Claude Blair and Angus Patterson in The Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, Vol. 14, in 2006, lists only two other pairs known. One was illustrated by Charles Beard in Connoisseur in 1931, and is in the British Museum (Museum no. 1885, 0508,20). The other was illustrated in the catalogue of the sale of furniture and other works of art belonging to Colonel H.H. Mulliner in 1924 and is in the Museum of London (ID 48. 3/2).

Few examples of these enamelled wares survive and along with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the V&A has the largest holding in the world at around a 18 examples. The comparatively small output of work and the repeated use of identical moulds for the stems of candlesticks, firedogs and cups suggests these objects are the products one workshop. Even domestic wares decorated with enamel would have been expensive, which implies that the workshop that produced them would have had a small but comparatively wealthy clientele.
Summary
These brass snuffers were used to extinguish the flame and trim the wick of a candle. Candles were expensive and required a lot of maintenence so an accessory like a pair of snuffers was a costly luxury item.

This pair of snuffers is from a distinct group of 17th-century cast and enamelled brasswares that include stirrups, mirror-frames, fire-dogs, sconces, badges and sword-hilts. The colours used for the enamelling were limited to matt black, white, blue, green, yellow and red and the cast work is usually roughly finished. Some have Royalist associations including badges decorated with the Royal arms.

The items in the group are distinguished by their method of production: the fields to be enamelled were cast in the original moulds and not, as was more common, engraved (champlévé) or enclosed (cloisonné). They were for a long time referred to as Surrey Enamels after the author Charles R. Beard ascribed their manufacture to a factory in Esher, Surrey, but documentary evidence makes a strong case for their reattribution to the London workshops of Anthony Hatch and Stephen Pilcherd.

Hatch, a prominent member of the Armourers and Braziers Company, supplied an enamelled brass chimney piece to the Company, which was placed in the Court Room. This was presumably similar in style to the other enamelled wares from this group, which of course included other wares associated with fireplaces. Hatch worked with Pilchard, another member of the Armourers and Braziers Company.

The comparatively small output of work and the repeated use of identical moulds for the stems of candlesticks, firedogs and cups suggests these objects are the products of one workshop or partnership. Even domestic wares decorated with enamel would have been expensive, which implies that the workshop that produced them would have had a small but comparatively wealthy clientele.
Bibliographic references
  • Blair, Claude, "Surrey Enamels Reattributed: Part 1", Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, Volume 13, June 2005, pp. 2-9
  • Blair, Claude, and Patterson, Angus, "Surrey Enamels Reattributed: Part 2, An Illustrated List of Known Types", The Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, June 2006, Volume 14, pp. 10-21
Collection
Accession number
M.22-2013

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 24, 2013
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest