MAKER'S MARK OF SAMUEL SIERVENT, LONDON, 1761

The design for these candlesticks was probably inspired by the comic opera, Love in a Village, performed to great popular acclaim at Covent Garden in 1762 and 1763. (The mark on these tapersticks was in use until May 1762). The libretto and the score were written by the very successful Irish playwright Isaac Bickerstaffe and the English composer Thomas Arne. Light-hearted comic operas, in the vein of Italian operette, had become extremely fashionable in the late 1750s, and despite numerous productions in this genre, none were as successful as Bickerstaffe's. The plot of Love in a Village, involving two sets of lovers, was conventional and borrowed from the Italian and French repertories, with standard comic and dramatic situations such as disguise, elopement, and misunderstandings. The representations of the maiden and the gardener in fancy costumes on the present tapersticks may correspond to the principal characters, Rossetta and Young Meadows.

Despite early charges of plagiarism and insipidity and some unenthusiastic reviews, Love in a Village continued to be a popular entertainment, and entered the English classic repertory. The opera reached Boston in 1766 and was performed over 80 times in the Colonies. A reviewer writing for the Pennsylvania Gazette in January 1767 wrote:
"I must beg leave to inform the public that the pleasing "Love in a Village" is done here beyond expectations, and must give real delight to every person void of ill-nature...I wish I could see the house better filled whenever this justly applauded entertainment is exhibited."