{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O55104"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O55104/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O55104","accessionNumber":"W.12:1-1947","objectType":"Candelabrum","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Description transcribed from 1947 register: Candelabrum of plaster, ormolu and cut crystal-glass. On a circular base standing figures of Venus and Bacchus support between them, modelled in plaster and painted black, a stand terminating in an ormolu finial, whence depend in line a pair of curved and scrolled ormolu branches with ormolu sockets surrounded by pendent finger-fringes of cut crystal-glass. \r\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"de Ville, James","id":"AUTH398881"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"},{"text":"ormolu","id":"AAT11048"},{"text":"crystal (lead glass)","id":"AAT10814"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES342841"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES342403"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Candelabrum","id":""}],[{"text":"Light fitting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1803","earliest":"1803-01-01","latest":"1803-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"93.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"measurement converted from department register"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"50.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"measurement converted from department register"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"25.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"measurement converted from department register"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"London Pubd Sept 3 1803\r\nJ.D.Ville.\r\n","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Incised with cursive script on the drapery of the Bacchus"}],"objectHistory":"The candelabrum was purchased from the firm of A.T. Bowden & Co. Ltd., a firm of antique dealers in Duke Street, London, one of whose managers was the decorator, Ronald Fleming (1896-1968). In 1927 Fleming had owned the Thomas Hope table (W.19-1976).","historicalContext":"In Britain, a thriving trade in the marketing of three-dimensional images made of plaster, particularly sculptures, busts and brackets, developed from the late 1730s. John Cheere (1709-87), who took over an existing business producing lead garden sculpture in about 1738, may have been the first craftsman to produce plaster casts with either a bronzed or marbled and gilded finish. The trade in these plaster models, which could be reproduced cheaply and easily, rapidly expanded with the establishment of plaster shops, run by modellers, who provided a wide range of casts. These were produced for the use of cabinet-makers, clock-makers, goldsmiths, jewellers, pottery and porcelain manufacturers, and other trades. Modellers may have used a range of sources for their designs, including sketches, engravings, architectural specifications, or original sculptures.  \r\n\r\nThe technical ease with which original sculptures, busts and other models could be copied in plaster, combined with the competition between the plaster shops, encouraged the spread of plagiarism and resulted in protests from a group of sculptors. An Act, sometimes called the Garrard Act after the sculptor George Garrard, was passed in June 1798, giving those responsible for a original design copyright protection for fourteen years over their work, provided each piece was signed and dated. The inscription with the sculptor's name and date on this candelabrum is an example of this copyright protection.\r\n\r\nThe development of plaster shops, descriptions of some individual firms and their products, and the influence of the Garrard Act, are explored in an article by Timothy Clifford, The Plaster Shops of the Rococo and Neo-Classical Era in Britain, <u>Journal of the History of Collections</u>, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1992, pp. 39-65.","briefDescription":"Plaster candelabrum, English, dated 1803, bronzed, in the form of a circular base with figures of Venus and Bacchus supporting a stand, inscribed 'J.D. Ville' (James Deville)\n\ngilt-bronze and glass, in the form of a pair of branches, each with a socket, on a central stand; from a candelabrum, inscribed 'J.D. Ville' (James Deville), English, dated 1803","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"CANDELABRUM\r\nENGLISH; about 1803\r\nThe figures of plaster\r\n\r\nProbably made in the workshop of James de Ville (1776-1846).\r\nHis obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine (1846, p.194) describes him as a 'plaster figure maker, lamp manufacturer and phrenologist in the Strand.'","date":{"text":"pre October 2000","earliest":null,"latest":"2000-09-30"}}],"partNumbers":["W.12:1-1947","W.12:2-1947"],"accessionNumberNum":"12","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1947,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Candelabrum","Light fitting"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-23","recordCreationDate":"2001-02-15","availableToBook":true}}