A Pair of Cast Brass 'Surrey Enamel' Candlesticks

Attributed to Anthony Hatch or Stephen Pilcherd, London, 17th Century

Height 10 1/4 inches.

Property from a Private Collection, Arlington, Virginia

This lot is located in Chicago.

Provenance:

Ronald A. Lee, London, 22 October 1979 (sold as circa 1660-70; with invoice)

Exhibited:

The Somerset House Art Treasures Exhibition, London, 1979, Exhibit no. W14 (one labeled)

Note:

A nearly identical pair to the present example is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum and attributed to the makers Anthony Hatch or Stephen Pilcherd, both members of the Armourers and Brasiers Company. The V&A's candlesticks were formerly in Warwick Castle along with a group of similar enameled cast brasswares, including mirror frames, stirrups, andirons, sconces, and sword hilts. The repeated use of identical molds amongst these wares strongly evidences that the Warwick grouping was the work of one workshop; that the V&A's candlesticks are virtually identical to the present lot suggests that they were likely originally part of the same Warwick collection.

'Surrey Enamels,' originally named after the author Charles R. Beard's attribution of such wares to a factory in Esher, Surrey in 1931 (which evidence has since been found against), are distinguished for their unique method of production—rather than engraved (champlevé) or enclosed (cloisonné), the fields to be enameled were cast in the original molds, then filled with enamels prior to firing.