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Candlesticks 1938-29,1-2
Candlestick, one of a pair
Candlesticks 1938-29,1-2

Candlestick, one of a pair

Date1727-1728
Marked by Paul Crespin (1694 - 1770)
OriginEngland, London
MediumSilver (Sterling) with gilding
DimensionsOH: 9 3/4"; Diam(base): 5 1/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1938-29,2A
DescriptionCandlestick; straight-sided cylindrical socket with multiple moldings below rim and fillet moldings below moldings and above cupped lower section with cast acanthus leaf decoration on a chased matted ground; flattened knop or flange of rectangular plan with canted corners with cast panels of flowers at corners and chased panels of diapering at sides; main section of stem of inverted baluster form and of octagonal section with face faceted in vertical panels; alternate panels embellished with cast decoration of a classically-rendered head in profile within a vertical oval above a trellis design ending in husks; flattened-ball knop below with cast rosette and guilloche decoration on a chased matted ground; broad circular base with well in top at base of stem; edge of well molded; band of cast shells and leaves on shoulder of base; edge of base molded. All parts cast and gilded. Engraved coat of arms on face of base at base of stem of candlestick.
Label TextThese candlesticks, totally in the French taste, illustrate the classical tendencies of the Huguenot style. Not only is the ornament of classical derivation (the acanthus bandings of socket and base, the Roman portrait busts of the stem, and the guilloche banding of the knop of the stem), but also the disposition of form and ornament is classical in attitude. The form is balanced and restrained, and the ornament is formally disposed.

Candlesticks of this type first appear in English silver in the early years of the eighteenth century. Twelve such candlesticks, engraved with the arms and cypher of Queen Anne, two of which bear the legible date letter for 1702/3, were part of the plate provided to Robert Harley as speaker of the House of Commons between 1701 and 1705. Most candlesticks of this pattern, however, date from the 1720s. These later candlesticks, the Williamsburg pair included, were probably modeled after examples by Nicolas Besnier, the noted Parisian silversmith. Interestingly, there is a similar candlestick of 1723/24 by Besnier with a long history of English ownership. It is part of a large suite of French silver acquired by Viscount William Bateman and his wife, Lady Anne Spencer, in the years immediately following their marriage in 1720.

Among similar candlesticks of the same year by Crespin are a set of fourteen with engraved royal arms. They were owned by Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th earl of Chesterfield, and may have formed part of his plate as ambassador to The Hague from 1728 to 1731.
InscribedEngraved on exterior of each base with the coat of arms of Sir Edward Kerrison (1774-1853) quartered with those of Barnes and Thornes.

Note: The coat of arms were engraved after Kerrison's elevation to baronet in 1821 and before a grant of honourable augmentation to his arms in 1841.

The later nozzles are engraved with Kerrison's crest.

inscribed weight "24=14" engraved on the underside of base
MarkingsMaker's mark "PC" in block letters with a shell above and a mullet below within a confining reserve, leopard's head crowned, lion passant, and date letter on underside of base.
ProvenanceEx. Coll: William Randolph Hearst
Exhibition(s)