Candelabrum in the form of an Urn Clasped by Carytides and Candle Branches 1760 - 1806

Henry Holland designed this Candelabrum in the form of an Urn Clasped by Caryatids and Candle Branches, with pen and gray ink, with gray and yellow wash, over graphite, on laid paper. Holland, a prominent architect during the late 18th century, operated within a society defined by rigid class structures and burgeoning colonial power. This drawing offers insight into the aesthetic values of the British elite, who often looked to classical antiquity for symbols of authority and refinement. The caryatids, female figures borrowed from ancient Greek architecture, frame the urn, reflecting the neoclassical obsession with idealizing the female form. However, this idealization comes at a cost. The women are reduced to mere ornamental supports, devoid of individual expression, embodying the era's limited roles for women in the public sphere. The candelabrum, meant to illuminate elite interiors, casts a shadow on the lives of those whose labor and bodies were commodified to create such objects of luxury.