Cornelius & Baker (1853–1869). Candelabrum, ca. 1853. Gilded bronze, 34 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (86.4 x 47 x 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund, 1998.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1998.89_transp736.jpg)
Cornelius & Baker (1853–1869). Candelabrum, ca. 1853. Gilded bronze, 34 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (86.4 x 47 x 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund, 1998.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1998.89_bw.jpg)
Cornelius & Baker (1853–1869). Candelabrum, ca. 1853. Gilded bronze, 34 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (86.4 x 47 x 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund, 1998.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 1998.89_in_situ.jpg)
Candelabrum
Decorative Arts and Design
Cornelius & Company was hailed as the leading U.S. manufacturer of lighting at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. At the first World’s Fair in the “New World,” held in 1853 in Bryant Park where the New York Public Library now stands, Cornelius & Baker exhibited a version of this monumental candelabrum encrusted with leaves and flowers (see illustration). The top section can be removed and replaced with a glass bowl to hold flowers.
MANUFACTURER
Cornelius & Baker, 1853–1869
MEDIUM
Gilded bronze
DATES
ca. 1853
DIMENSIONS
34 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (86.4 x 47 x 47 cm) (show scale)
MARKINGS
Impressed on underside of base: "C & C"
COLLECTIONS
Decorative Arts and Design
ACCESSION NUMBER
1998.89
CREDIT LINE
Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Rococo Revival style candelabrum, gilded cast bronze with a matte finish highlighted with brilliant polished details, elaborately encrusted with leaves and flower decorations. There are three main sections: a base unit with the stem supporting eight detachable candleholders and a turned bowl; a middle unit which sits over the bowl (a cover?), itself topped with a smaller turned bowl; and a upper ornamental cover/finial topped with a eagle. Each of these units is assembled of several sections tied together with a central threaded rod and screw. Base consists of a square platform with notched corners and slightly concave sides, raised on acanthus leaf feet. Main columnar stem rises from base and is covered with projecting scroll and foliate forms. Stem supports a bowl covered with flowers. Below bowl, eight elaborately scrolled brackets serve as arms for the candle sockets. The middle section consists of openwork domed top that fits into the bowl and rises in lobes to a smaller bowl. The uppermost section is a domed lid for the bowl, covered with flowers and surmounted by an eagle finial.
Condition: Fair, the gilding is abraded and there are many darkened areas due to corrosion of the underlying bronze; one arm is repaired; one of the bolted scroll feet exhibits cracking around the rosette and on the scroll.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Cornelius & Baker (1853–1869). Candelabrum, ca. 1853. Gilded bronze, 34 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (86.4 x 47 x 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund, 1998.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1998.89_transp736.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1998.89_transp736.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
