A Late Gothic Copper-Alloy Candlestick

A finely proportioned late Gothic socket candlestick of characteristic North-West European form, dating from the closing decades of the fifteenth or opening years of the sixteenth century.

The candlestick is raised upon a broad circular base with a pronounced outer rim and gently dished upper surface, rising centrally into a substantial conical skirt. Above this, the tall stem is articulated by a succession of cylindrical sections, sharply defined disc mouldings and an elongated baluster-shaped knop. The stem terminates in a large, slightly tapering cylindrical candle socket with moulded upper and lower borders.

The strongly profiled, almost architectural character of the stem is typical of late Gothic metalwork. Its alternating discs, cylinders and swelling forms have a particularly close relationship with contemporary turned woodwork, an influence frequently encountered amongst North-West European copper-alloy candlesticks of this period. The broad base provides both visual and physical stability to the unusually slender vertical composition.

Of particular interest is the absence of a lateral ejector aperture in the candle socket. Many surviving candlesticks belonging to this general group incorporate one or more holes through which the remains of a burnt candle could be pushed from the socket. The present example appears to have been made without such an aperture, requiring the candle stub to be extracted through the mouth of the socket. This represents an unusual variation within the type.

The underside preserves visible concentric working marks associated with the finishing of the casting, while the surface throughout retains the irregularities, minor pitting, wear and mellow golden-brown patination expected of an object which has survived some five centuries of use.

Closely related forms are represented in The Lear Collection of Copper-Alloy Socket Candlesticks, A.D. 200–1700, where North-West European examples of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries display comparable broad circular bases, conical skirts, disc-knopped stems and substantial cylindrical sockets. Particularly close parallels occur within the group dated to the late 15th/early 16th century, supporting a date around 1500 for the present candlestick.

An accomplished and remarkably complete example of the domestic metalwork of the late Gothic period, its restrained geometry and pronounced verticality demonstrate the transition between medieval Gothic forms and the increasingly ordered profiles of the early sixteenth century.