Pair of candlesticks 1775 - 1785

Curator: Looking at these candlesticks, I’m immediately struck by their cool formality. The precise geometry, the restrained ornamentation – they feel very neoclassical. Editor: Absolutely. These silver candlesticks, crafted by John Parsons & Co. sometime between 1775 and 1785, represent the elegance and sophistication prized in that era. You can find them on display right here at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curator: And silver, of course, isn’t just about beauty. The choice of material signaled wealth, power, and social standing, didn’t it? What statements do these candlesticks convey in relation to class structures of the period? Editor: Precisely. Objects like these were instrumental in constructing and reinforcing social hierarchies. They decorated elite homes, illuminating gatherings of the privileged, projecting images of refined taste and inherited wealth. Their very presence implies a network of artisans, merchants, and patrons connected by the exchange of luxury goods. Curator: So, objects like these not only demonstrate refined taste but speak volumes about labor exploitation during this period? It is difficult to view these objects outside of an intersectional critique. Editor: While beautiful and seemingly straightforward, objects such as these offer a glimpse into a network of influence that spanned artists, the elites who consumed them, and also the underclass responsible for mining materials to create objects like this in the first place. Curator: That reframes my perception entirely. Now I'm not only noticing the candlelight illuminating a refined dinner table, but questioning labor and exploitation and the global trade needed for a candlelit dinner to take place. Editor: Precisely. It really forces us to acknowledge that art is rarely made or exists in a vacuum, it has context that must be evaluated as well.