Miniature chamber candlestick 1685 - 1690

Curator: Today, we're looking at a "Miniature Chamber Candlestick," crafted between 1685 and 1690. This baroque piece, residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is composed of silver. Editor: It's diminutive, yet sturdy. I get a sense of intimate domesticity from this; a personal object intended to light the way for its owner during private, perhaps solitary, moments. Curator: Indeed. The candlestick's small size speaks to shifts in interior design and personal practices during the late 17th century. Chamber candlesticks such as these offered a convenient, portable means of illumination, signaling a shift towards increased personal comfort and refined domestic spaces. Silver was also tied to commerce. Editor: Silver's reflective surface plays an important role here, both practically in amplifying the candlelight, but also symbolically. Light emerging from darkness. Do you think it also reflects on status, as it seems to signify luxury through a specific material? Curator: I do. The Baroque love of luxury is well reflected by the material value of the piece, not just its function as an object of domestic comfort. I also find myself pondering about the artisan's labor that went into crafting this beautiful functional form. How does the maker influence the meaning? Editor: That's a critical point. I wonder about the motifs engraved on the handle, barely visible. What cultural scripts were being deployed? Who did this imagery speak to? I also consider that light also carries diverse symbolic meanings in the seventeenth century depending on context and application. The light illuminating religious scripture for example is used for far different purposes than lighting the way to bed chambers. Curator: That connection of function to meaning adds so much nuance. Reflecting on the making, using, and meaning behind this Baroque silver candlestick gives it new depth beyond a simple period piece. Editor: Agreed. Looking closely, it offers a portal to understand more fully the life and culture of the late 17th century.