Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2015.

Candelabra

Manufacturer William Adams & Co. (British (Staffordshire, England), 1769 - 1966)

CultureEnglish

Dateca. 1789-1809

MediumCut glass with jasperware and gilt bronze

Dimensions29 × 21 × 10 7/8 in. (73.7 × 53.3 × 27.6 cm)

InscribedMark: "ADAMS/L," impressed on jasperware plinth

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.1298

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 116-2, Case 10

DescriptionLight candelabra. Glass central shaft terminating in a canopy with a star finial and hung with drops and chains of beads. Glass shaft fits into a gilt bronze socket decorated with leafage. Below this is a blue and white jasperware base decorated on its' four sides with classical maidens. Jasperware base sits on a gilt bronze plinth. One of the pair is badly broken and in pieces. The mounting of the candelabra was probably done by Thomas Low and Co., Sheffield. As per M. Clark- 8-18-87 - large crystal is damaged.

Label TextNeoclassical Candelabrum Great Britian; Base made by William Adams Ca. 1787-1805 Blown lead glass; cut Jasper ware* and gilt bronze base Mark: incised on bottom of jasper plinth ADAMS/ L Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.1298 The allegorical figures on the jasper base represent the four seasons: Spring (on the front) holds a garland of flowers; Summer (on the right) holds a sickle and wheat sheaf; Fall (on the back) holds a cornucopia; Winter (on the left side) warms her hands before a flaming brazier. *Jasper ware, a fine-grained stoneware was originally developed in the 1770s by Josiah Wedgewood for the imitation of ancient gems, but was so popular that it was itself soon imitated by rival manufacturers.Published ReferencesW. Mankowitz and R.G. Haggar, _The Concise Encyclopedia of English Pottery and Porcelain_, (Hawthorn Books, Inc.: NY, 1957), p. 4 for biography of William Adams. Diana Edwards and Rodney Hampson, _English Dry-Bodied Stoneware: Wedgewood and Contemporary Manufacturers 1774-1830_, (Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1998), Fig. 119, b/w ill., p. 114.ff Diane C. Wright (editor), _Glass: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017), pg. 64-5.