Candlestick
ca. 1840
Medium
Pressed glass
Dimensions
H. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm)
Classification
Candlestick
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Emily Winthrop Miles, 1946
Accession Number
46.140.360
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant candlestick, crafted by the Boston & Sandwich Glass around 1840, exemplifies the age of American pressed glass. Founded in 1825 on Cape Cod, the company became a leader in mass-producing decorative glassware, using innovative molding techniques that allowed for intricate patterns at affordable prices. Standing at 8½ inches tall, this piece from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing reflects the era's growing middle-class appetite for refined home furnishings. Pressed glass, the candlestick's medium, involved pouring molten glass into detailed iron molds under high pressu...
About the Artist
Boston & Sandwich Glass Company · 1825–1888
The Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, a pioneering force in American glassmaking, was established in 1825 in Sandwich, Massachusetts, by visionary entrepreneur Deming Jarves, who had honed his expertise as an agent for the New England Glass Company in Cambridge. Jarves built the factory on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal, incorporating it formally the following year with Boston investors. Drawing o...