Design for a Porcelain Candelabra with Nine Branches
19th century
Medium
Graphite, watercolor, gouache, and gold gilt
Dimensions
sheet: 18 7/8 x 11 7/16 in. (47.9 x 29.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.675.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant design for a porcelain candelabra with nine branches captures the refined decorative sensibilities of nineteenth-century France. Created by an anonymous French artist, the drawing showcases an elaborate, multi-branched form intended for a luxurious tabletop or mantelpiece piece. The inclusion of floral motifs suggests a harmonious blend of natural elegance and opulent craftsmanship, typical of the period’s interest in ornate, nature-inspired ornamentation for domestic interiors. Executed in graphite, watercolor, gouache, and gold gilt on a sheet measuring nearly nineteen by eleve...
About the Artist
Anonymous, French, 19th century · 1800–1900
**Anonymous, French, 19th Century (ca. 1800–1900)** The artist cataloged as Anonymous, French, 19th century embodies the enigmatic yet essential contributions of unidentified creators to France's vibrant 19th-century art world. Active roughly between 1800 and 1900, this figure—or potentially collective workshop—produced a diverse array of works amid the nation's transition from Neoclassicism thro...