Candlestick

Art Historical Context

This elegant candlestick, crafted by the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company between 1835 and 1840, exemplifies the golden age of American pressed glass. Standing at just under 7 inches tall, its pressed amethyst glass form shimmers with a rich purple hue, a color achieved through manganese impurities in the molten glass—a technique that added both beauty and durability to everyday luxury items. The Boston & Sandwich Glass Company based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was pioneer in the early 19th-century American glass industry, revolutionizing production with patented pressing molds. This method allowed for intricate, affordable designs previously reserved for cut glass, flooding homes with ornate tableware during the expanding middle-class era. Candlesticks like this one illuminated parlors and dining rooms, blending functionality with neoclassical motifs popular in the Federal and Greek Revival styles. Housed in The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this piece—generously gifted by Mrs. Emily Winthrop Miles in 1946—offers a glimpse into America's industrial ingenuity and growing taste for decorative arts, marking the shift from imported European goods to homegrown elegance.

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...