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拍品專文
THE ADAM CANDLESTICK DESIGN
The highly celebrated design for the candlestick, which support the branches of these candelabra, was recognized by Michael Snodin in his landmark paper ‘Adam Silver Reassessed’ published in The Burlington Magazine in 1997 as both remarkable and innovative. It displays a masterful combination of both Renaissance baluster forms, elements of ancient Roman architectural stone candelabra and ornamental details, which Snodin describes as on a scale and density of Renaissance bronzes, a reimagining of the candlestick that is ‘far more remarkable than it first appears’.
The Adam brothers were the greatest proponents of the neo-classical style in England during the second half of the 18th century. The more prominent brother Robert was seen as one of the most successful architects at designing not only the fabric of a building but also the interiors and the furnishings as part of an overarching grand scheme. The 'Adam Style' was in a large part the product of the five years Robert spent on his Grand Tour, during which he studied under the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Much of his later work was influenced by his detailed study and sketches he made of Classical ruins en plein air. On his return to Great Britain he and his brother James set up a highly successful practice in London.
Robert and his brother James' contribution to the design of silver can be studied in detail through a series of 114 of their designs found amongst the nine thousand surviving drawings bought by the renowned 19th century architect Sir John Soane in 1833, now preserved in the Sir John Soane's Museum, London, which are discussed in depth by Snodin (op. cit. 1997, pp. 17-25). Snodin notes that the earliest known model of the present candlestick form, designed circa 1766 as suggested by the extant design, are a set of twelve by various makers presumably commissioned by the Phillips family of Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire; the earliest are hallmarked for 1767. The set is discussed and illustrated in James Lomax’s catalogue, British Silver at Temple Newsam and Lotherton Hall, Leeds, 1992, pp. 158-160, no. 175. As the Phillips family are not known to have been clients of Adam it is probable the design was conceived for another as yet unidentified client. Examples from the Phillips set are in the collections of Manchester City Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries, and Temple Newsam.
At the time, Adam was working for the Marquess of Lansdowne, whose London house he designed. He was also in the employ of the Earl of Coventry at Croome Court and the Lascelles family at Harewood in Yorkshire, for whom he had designed the Richmond Race cup in 1764. It was also in the late 1760s that he provided the designs for the dining room buffet of his Derbyshire masterpiece Kedleston Hall, the seat of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, later 1st Baron Scarsdale. One of the largest undertakings in silver by Adam must be the service made for the Welsh landowner Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Bt. (1749-1789), which was researched extensively by Oliver Fairclough in his article ‘Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn and Robert Adam: Commission for Silver 1768-80,’ published in The Burlington Magazine. Sir Watkin had inherited the family estates when he was only 6 months old. By the time he attained his majority in 1770, he had accrued an enormous fortune. Part of this fortune he used to engage the Adam brothers to design a town house for him in London at 20 St. James's Square. For the dining room, Adam designed a "Great Table Service" which comprised two pairs of soup tureens, candelabra, salt cellars, sauce boats, dishes and plates (Christie's, London, 12 June 2007, lot 64), although as Snodin notes many of the designs had to be adapted or simplified by the silversmith who realized them.
THE CRESPELL BROTHERS
Sebastian and James Crespell are thought to have been apprenticed to the leading silversmith Edward Wakelin. Later in their careers much of their production is thought to have been retailed by Wakein and his partner William Taylor, due to the numerous references to them in the surviving workman’s ledgers of the business, now preserved in the Archive of Art and Design in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Wakelin and Taylor supplied many of the leading patrons of their day from their Paton Street premises. It is interesting to note that six of the Phillips set of candlesticks mention above, sold by dealer Thomas Lumley in the 1980s, were marked for Sebastian and James Crespell, as recorded by Michael Clayton in his Collector’s Dictionary of Silver and Gold (London, 1971, p. 62). It would appear that the present candelabra are the only recorded example of the Adam candlesticks design having been adapted with candelabra branches.
The highly celebrated design for the candlestick, which support the branches of these candelabra, was recognized by Michael Snodin in his landmark paper ‘Adam Silver Reassessed’ published in The Burlington Magazine in 1997 as both remarkable and innovative. It displays a masterful combination of both Renaissance baluster forms, elements of ancient Roman architectural stone candelabra and ornamental details, which Snodin describes as on a scale and density of Renaissance bronzes, a reimagining of the candlestick that is ‘far more remarkable than it first appears’.
The Adam brothers were the greatest proponents of the neo-classical style in England during the second half of the 18th century. The more prominent brother Robert was seen as one of the most successful architects at designing not only the fabric of a building but also the interiors and the furnishings as part of an overarching grand scheme. The 'Adam Style' was in a large part the product of the five years Robert spent on his Grand Tour, during which he studied under the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Much of his later work was influenced by his detailed study and sketches he made of Classical ruins en plein air. On his return to Great Britain he and his brother James set up a highly successful practice in London.
Robert and his brother James' contribution to the design of silver can be studied in detail through a series of 114 of their designs found amongst the nine thousand surviving drawings bought by the renowned 19th century architect Sir John Soane in 1833, now preserved in the Sir John Soane's Museum, London, which are discussed in depth by Snodin (op. cit. 1997, pp. 17-25). Snodin notes that the earliest known model of the present candlestick form, designed circa 1766 as suggested by the extant design, are a set of twelve by various makers presumably commissioned by the Phillips family of Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire; the earliest are hallmarked for 1767. The set is discussed and illustrated in James Lomax’s catalogue, British Silver at Temple Newsam and Lotherton Hall, Leeds, 1992, pp. 158-160, no. 175. As the Phillips family are not known to have been clients of Adam it is probable the design was conceived for another as yet unidentified client. Examples from the Phillips set are in the collections of Manchester City Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries, and Temple Newsam.
At the time, Adam was working for the Marquess of Lansdowne, whose London house he designed. He was also in the employ of the Earl of Coventry at Croome Court and the Lascelles family at Harewood in Yorkshire, for whom he had designed the Richmond Race cup in 1764. It was also in the late 1760s that he provided the designs for the dining room buffet of his Derbyshire masterpiece Kedleston Hall, the seat of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, later 1st Baron Scarsdale. One of the largest undertakings in silver by Adam must be the service made for the Welsh landowner Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Bt. (1749-1789), which was researched extensively by Oliver Fairclough in his article ‘Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn and Robert Adam: Commission for Silver 1768-80,’ published in The Burlington Magazine. Sir Watkin had inherited the family estates when he was only 6 months old. By the time he attained his majority in 1770, he had accrued an enormous fortune. Part of this fortune he used to engage the Adam brothers to design a town house for him in London at 20 St. James's Square. For the dining room, Adam designed a "Great Table Service" which comprised two pairs of soup tureens, candelabra, salt cellars, sauce boats, dishes and plates (Christie's, London, 12 June 2007, lot 64), although as Snodin notes many of the designs had to be adapted or simplified by the silversmith who realized them.
THE CRESPELL BROTHERS
Sebastian and James Crespell are thought to have been apprenticed to the leading silversmith Edward Wakelin. Later in their careers much of their production is thought to have been retailed by Wakein and his partner William Taylor, due to the numerous references to them in the surviving workman’s ledgers of the business, now preserved in the Archive of Art and Design in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Wakelin and Taylor supplied many of the leading patrons of their day from their Paton Street premises. It is interesting to note that six of the Phillips set of candlesticks mention above, sold by dealer Thomas Lumley in the 1980s, were marked for Sebastian and James Crespell, as recorded by Michael Clayton in his Collector’s Dictionary of Silver and Gold (London, 1971, p. 62). It would appear that the present candelabra are the only recorded example of the Adam candlesticks design having been adapted with candelabra branches.