Candelabrum (1757–1758): Art, History and Details

Candelabrum (1757–1758) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is François Thomas Germain (French, 1726–1791).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This candelabrum is part of a pair. Its design blurs the line between function and decoration. The arms twist and curve, visually flower stems while physically supporting the candles. Though this visual unity is typical of the rococo style, the influence of the rising neoclassical style is evident in the allegorical scenes of light that decorate each candelabra’s stem.

Object facts

• Title: Candelabrum
• Date: 1757–1758
• Creator attribution: François Thomas Germain (French, 1726–1791)
• Culture: France, Paris
• Type: Silver
• Technique: silver
• Dimensions: Diameter: 19.9 cm (7 13/16 in.); Overall: 38.1 x 24.5 cm (15 x 9 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1940.14.1

A detail from the museum

These candelabra are part of a dinner service sent from Paris, France to Saint-Petersburg, Russia in two separate shipments, the first of which contained 270 objects for 8 dozen place settings.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.