Pair of Candle Stands (torchères)
This pair of gilded candle stands was made by Thomas Chippendale, the most renowned cabinetmaker in eighteenth-century London, for the grand drawing room of Brocket Hall, a large country house in Hertfordshire, England. With finely carved acanthus leaves, swags, fluting, and oval masks depicting the Roman goddess Diana, these candle stands exhibit Chippendale’s masterful understanding of neoclassical proportion, scale, and ornament. His landmark book of furniture designs, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (first published in 1754), was highly admired as a source of inspiration by c...
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- Gilt-wood, gesso
- Dimensions
- each: height 1.54 m, width 0.56 m, depth 0.51 m
- Origin
- England
- Department
- Decorative Art and Design
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- John L. Severance Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Subject Matter
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Classical Mythology Both · 93%
The catalog identifies oval masks as depictions of the Roman goddess Diana, while the oval face-like medallions are visible on the bases.
Styles and Movements
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Neoclassicism Metadata · 96%
The museum explicitly characterizes the stands’ proportion, scale, and ornament as neoclassical.
Visual Qualities
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Symmetrical Both · 97%
The pair consists of closely matched counterparts, and each stand has a strongly balanced central axis.
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Highly Ornamented Both · 99%
The visible surfaces are densely covered with carved foliage, fluting, beadwork, masks, swags, and layered ornamental borders; the catalog also emphasizes their elaborate ornament.
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Slender Visual · 95%
Each stand has a tall, narrow shaft rising above a comparatively broad base and terminating in a projecting tray.
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Columns and Totems Visual · 86%
The elongated shafts, molded divisions, and flared upper sections create a pronounced column-like vertical structure.
Time Periods
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18th Century Art Metadata · 95%
The catalog dates the pair to approximately 1773, within the eighteenth century.
Geographic Regions
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British and Irish Art Metadata · 92%
The maker is identified as British and the place of origin as England.
Materials
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Wood Metadata · 98%
The catalog specifies gilt-wood as a principal material.
Furniture and Lighting
Source & rights
Thomas Chippendale (British, 1718–1779). Pair of Candle Stands (torchères). Cleveland Museum of Art.