- Pair of Candlesticks
Overall (.2.A,.B): 9 15/16 × 5 5/8 × 4 3/8 in. (25.3 × 14.3 × 11.1 cm)
Explore Further
American silver candlesticks are quite rare. Examples made before 1840 are especially so. This pair was once part of a set of four with a pair now in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg. The form of these candlesticks, closely following that of contemporary English Sheffield plated examples, is apparently unique in American silver.
Andrew Ellicott Warner formed a partnership in Baltimore with his brother Thomas in 1805, and, after its dissolution in 1812, continued working as a silversmith until his death in 1870. After Samuel Kirk, Warner was early Baltimore’s most prolific silversmith. In some years, his output exceeded Kirk’s. Given his lengthy career, his work spanned multiple style periods, including the naturalistic repoussé style for which Baltimore silversmiths are so well known.
The present pair of candlesticks was once part of a set of four with another pair now in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg (2012-143,1&2).
ProvenanceFrancis Smith (1776–1844) and Mary Trigg (1781–1839), Abingdon, Virginia; by descent to Mary Frances Trigg Smith (1812–1890) and Gov. Wyndham Robertson (1803–1888), Abingdon [1]; by descent to Catherine “Katie” Markham Robertson (1845–1922), Abingdon; by descent to to her great-granddaughter Harriet White G. Chinn (1945–2021), Abingdon; Estate of Harriet White G. Chinn, Abingdon; consigned to [Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina, February 5, 2022, lot 773]; [S. J. Shrubsole, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2022.
[1] Mary Smith is the only child of Francis Smith.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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