{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O76453"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O76453/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AK4465/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AK4465/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AK4465","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O76453/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O76453","accessionNumber":"558-1865","objectType":"Candlestick","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This brass candlestick has a vase-shaped shaft and is decorated with narrow interlaced silver patterns and an engraved scroll pattern. This 'arabesque' pattern, based on stylised plants with a winding stems, was studied and copied by contemporary Italian artists from Islamic art.\r\n\r\nVenice during this period traded, and fought, extensively with the Turkish and Arab empires bordering the Mediterranean basin. Venetian merchants brought to the city Near Eastern goods, which had a lasting influence on local design and eventually on the rest of Europe. \r\n\r\nVenetian brasswork was almost always engraved and inlaid or, as in this case, overlaid with silver wire, a technique known as ‘damascening’. The decoration was extensive, often covering the entire surface of an object. \r\n\r\nBy the middle of the 16th century, the arabesque as a form of ornament was beginning to influence craftworkers all over Europe. It became incorporated into the development of European ornamental design until the decline of the Rococo style in the late 18th century.","physicalDescription":"Brass candlestick, sand cast in 3 sections, with wide trumpet shaped base, shallow drip pan and vase-shaped socket, decorated with a narrow interlace overlaid with silver and an engraved, interlaced scroll pattern of Moorish design.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Brass","id":"AAT10946"},{"text":"Silver","id":"AAT11029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"engraved","id":"AAT53829"},{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53119"},{"text":"silver overlay","id":"x40145"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Brass, cast and engraved with silver overlay","categories":[{"text":"Household objects","id":"THES48939"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Lighting","id":"THES48925"}],"styles":[{"text":"Moorish","id":"AAT21016"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006AK4465"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"64 (VA)","id":"THES49735"},"free":"","case":"SS","shelf":"3","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Candlestick","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Venice","id":"x29237"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1550","earliest":"1545-01-01","latest":"1554-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"16.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"15.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"base","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"1.2","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The Museum bought this candlestick for £20 as Cat. No. 345 from the sale of the Soulages Collection. Jules Soulages, a wealthy lawyer from Toulouse in France, was a prolific collector of French and Italian medieval art, particularly objects of everyday use. With the purchase of items from his collection between 1859 and 1865, the Museum's first Director, Henry Cole, stated that ‘the nation acquired possession of a collection of medieval art of the greatest value to manufacturers.’ The candlestick's history prior to its purchase by Soulages is unknown.","historicalContext":"This brass candlestick has a vase-shaped shaft and is decorated with narrow interlaced silver patterns and an engraved scroll pattern. This 'arabesque' pattern, based on stylised plants with a winding stems, was studied and copied by contemporary Italian artists from Islamic art. Venice during this period traded, and fought, extensively with the Turkish and Arab empires that bordered the Mediterranean basin. Venetian merchants brought to the city Near Eastern goods, which had an immediate influence on local design and eventually on the rest of Europe. \r\n\r\nThe shape of this candlestick is that of a Nuremberg prototype of the late 16th century. It is probable that it was imported, undecorated, into Venice and the decoration was added there. Unlike northern European brasswork, this brasswork was almost always engraved and inlaid or, as in this case, overlaid with silver wire, a technique known as ‘damascene’. The decoration was extensive, often covering the entire surface of an object. The clientele for these brasswares was evidently very wealthy. Many have crests incorporated into their designs.\r\n\r\nBy the middle of the 16th century, the arabesque as a form of ornament was beginning to influence craftworkers all over Europe. It became incorporated into the development of European ornamental design until the decline of the Rococo style in the late 18th century.\r\n\r\nThis 'Veneto-Saracenic' work has been the subject of much debate in recent years. It was formerly assumed such objects were the products of Muslim craftsmen working in Venice but this has been discredited owing to the restrictive practices of the 16th century Venetian guild system. (See References for recent studies by Doris Behrens-Abbouseif and Sylvia Auld).","briefDescription":"Brass candlestick with a vase-shaped shaft, decorated with a narrow interlaced of silver overlay, Venetian, ca. 1550","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Auld, Sylvia, <u>Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd: A Metalworking Enigma</u>, Al Tajir World of Islam Trust, London 2004"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Behrens-Abouseif, Doris, \"Veneto-Saracenic Metalwork, a Mamluk Art\", <u>Mamluk Studies Review</u>, IX (2), Middle East Documentation Center (MEDOC), University of Chicago, 2005, pp. 147-172"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Herrman, Frank, <u>The English as Collectors: A Documentary Source Book</u>, John Murray, London, 1999, pp. 290-292"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"scrolls (motifs)","id":"AAT10094"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["558-1865"],"accessionNumberNum":"558","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1865,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2017KD0126","2019LN9689","2019LR1130","2019LU7627","2019LT9871"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-03","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-11","availableToBook":false}}