Four rare mid-17th century cast and sheet brass round-based and cluster-stemmed socket candlesticks, Dutch or English, circa 1660


Including a very near pair with bases engraved with vacant shields within leafy mantling and beneath a helm with closed barred visor, affronté, and another near pair, all with cast brass stems formed as six clustered columns, topped by scalloped rims and bound by three ridged bands, all having a drip-pan with downswept edge, and on a stepped and spreading circular base with broad footrim, the engraved near pair 19.5cm base diameter x 23cm high; the second near pair 19.5cm base diameter x 22.5cm high and 19cm base diameter x 22.5cm high; some variations in diameter of stems; (4)
|Cluster-stemmed candlesticks of this type are believed to have been produced from approximately 1630. Four sticks of this type in pewter are at York Minster, and have been dated circa 1640 due to their similarity to the Edgcumbe pewter sticks, dateable from heraldry to circa 1636 or earlier. Probably made in brass later in the century, this type of candlestick is not yet entirely understood. The thin quality of the metal may reflect a Dutch or Continental origin, and exportation for sale in England. See R. F. Michaelis, Old Domestic Base-Metal Candlesticks (1978), pp. 86-7 and P. N. and H. Schiffer, The Brass Book (1978), p. 159, Figure C, where a similar round-based example in brass is attributed to England or France, and dated 1650.The shields to the pair of engraved candlesticks are vacant, and do not appear to have ever been engraved with a coat of arms. The barred visors which top them – facing the viewer – are reserved in England for royalty alone. It is possible, therefore, either that these were made with the Royal Family in mind or, and more likely, that they were made for customers in a different country.