Candlestand
Label Text
George Washington purchased these candlestands for £ 3.10 on December 2, 1759 from the Scottish cabinetmaker James Allan of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Rising from an ingenious combination of C-scrolls and acanthus leaves, these fashionable stands enabled candles to be elevated and placed around the room for illumination. Washington would likely have utilized them in the West Parlor or Small Dining Room at Mount Vernon, the showpieces of his newly expanded and renovated home. They were placed in the New Room after its completion in 1788 and continued in use until Washington's death in 1799.
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Date1759
Probable maker
James Allan
(Scottish, 1716 - 1799)
Geography
Made -
United States
Medium/TechniqueMahogany
DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 48 in. x 20 5/8 in. x 21 1/2 in. (121.92 cm x 52.39 cm x 54.61 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hugh Campbell and brothers, 1887
Object numberW-1/A
DescriptionMahogany candlestand; hexagonal top with triple laminated fretwork gallery along all sides supported on a central stem composed of a series of C-scrolls with a tripod base; stem is composed of three short C scrolls which support a triangular platform on which rises three attenuated C-scrolls each with acanthus leaves carved at their base, which in turn support another triangular platform upon which rises three C-scrolls, joined at their backs and base with carved acanthus drapes, that support the final hexagonal platform; at each section of the stem, smaller C-scrolls frame the openings between the three members; the base of the stem is ornamented with a carved acanthus with a central cabochon and bell flower drop on all three sides; three S-curving legs with scroll feet.Published ReferencesTara Gleason Chicirda, "The Furniture of Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1740-1820," American Furniture (Milwaukee: The Chipstone Foundation, 2006), 99-101.
Morrison Heckscher, "English Furniture Pattern Books in Eighteenth-Century America," American Furniture (Milwaukee: The Chipstone Foundation,1994), 195-196.
Christine Meadows, "The Furniture," The Magazine Antiques 135/2 (February 1989): 480-482.
Wallace B. Gusler, Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia: 1710-1790 (Richmond: Virginia Museum, 1979), 125-126.
Wallace B. Gusler and Sumpter Priddy III, "Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia," The Magazine Antiques (August 1978): 289, 291.
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