Candlestick (part of a set of four) 1701 - 1705

Curator: Let's turn our attention to a remarkable example of Baroque craftsmanship. This candlestick, made from silver, is part of a set of four crafted by Johann Daniel Schäffler I, sometime between 1701 and 1705. Editor: It has such a restrained elegance, doesn’t it? The way the light catches the metal... it feels simultaneously solid and ethereal. Curator: The form certainly plays with these tensions. Note the geometric facets of the central column contrasting with the elaborate foliate designs on the base and knops. It embodies the Baroque love of ornamentation, yet the overall structure remains rigorously symmetrical. Editor: It's interesting how these decorative objects also played a social role. Who owned objects like these and how might the soft light they produced have impacted their gatherings, creating both warmth and an intimacy, restricted to those wealthy enough to obtain precious materials. Curator: Exactly. This piece speaks volumes about the prevailing aesthetic tastes and economic disparities of the period. One can analyse it structurally, in terms of its design elements, the interplay between positive and negative space in its floral elements. Editor: Absolutely, and consider how such an artifact reifies and makes physical the dominant political regime that sanctioned luxury. Objects like these reflected, and reinforced, those social hierarchies, creating boundaries in the domestic sphere and offering insight into performative power relations. Curator: Indeed. Looking at it now, the eye is drawn to how the metal interacts with its function: a simple vessel elevated to a statement of wealth and status. It achieves remarkable poise in its ornate, vertical ascent. Editor: Right, thinking about it in this broader context changes how I look at it; no longer just decorative art but part of something more structural and political. Curator: Precisely, a rich object deserving careful, repeated viewings. Editor: It is. These close viewings really have encouraged us to rethink the piece and its context.