Pair of candelabra with porcelain flowers
ca. 1760
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Candelabra: H. 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm.) x W. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm.) Birds: H. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) x L. 4 in. (10.2 cm.)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
British, Bow, London
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.732, .733
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 18th British decorative arts with this exquisite *Pair of Candelabra withcelain Flowers* from the Bow Porcelain Factory London, crafted around 1760. Standing at 13 inches high and 12½ inches wide, these soft-paste porcelain treasures feature delicate, hand-modeled flowers blooming alongside perky birds measuring 3½ inches tall. The playful natural motifs—evident in the tags for birds and flowers—capture the Rococo era's love for organic elegance and whimsy. Bow Porcelain Factory, active from the 1740s to 1770s, was a trailblazer in England's quest to rival Chine...
About the Artist
Bow Porcelain Factory · 1747–1776
The Bow Porcelain Factory, established around 1747 in East London near Bow and relocated by 1749 to "New Canton" east of the River Lea, emerged as one of England's pioneering soft-paste porcelain manufacturers, rivaling the Chelsea factory. Founded by merchant Edward Heylyn and Irish painter Thomas Frye, who secured key patents in 1744 and 1748–49 for using Cherokee kaolin and bone ash, the factor...