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The Gloucester Candlestick
Unknown1107-1113 (commmissioned) - 1113
The Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
The Gloucester Candlestick. a candlestick in three sections: a triangular base surmounted by a knop; the main stem with a central knop and the grease pan with a knop beneath.
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Details
- Title: The Gloucester Candlestick
- Date Created: 1107-1113 (commmissioned) - 1113
- Location Created: England
- Type: Candlestick
- External Link: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O114078
- production: Unknown
- Subjects Depicted: centaurs; griffin; monkeys (animals); dragons; flower (stylised); birds; mythological beasts; monsters; serpents (animal)
- More Information: This unique candlestick is a masterpiece of English metalwork, probably made by a goldsmith. It is made in three sections, each separately cast by a process known as 'lost wax'. The dense decoration is formed of wonderful figures and apes interspersed between thick intertwining shoots of foliage. Three long-eared dragons with outspread wings form the supporting feet. The large knop (or knob) in the centre of the stem shows the symbols of the four Evangelists. Of the three inscriptions in Latin, the most important is the one on the stem,above and below the central knop, which refers to the donation of the candlestick and reads: 'The devotion of abbot Peter and his gentle flock gave me to the church of St Peter at Gloucester'. This must refer to what is now Gloucester Cathedral, but which was then a Benedictine monastery, where there was an abbot named Peter between 1104-1113. A slightly later inscription inside the grease pan states that the candlestick was given by Thomas de Poche, whose identity remains unknown, to the Cathedral of Le Mans, where it remained until the French Revolution.
- Materials and Techniques: Copper alloy, cast, gilded; niello, glass
- Dimensions: Height: 58 cm, Width: 20 cm, Depth: 20 cm, Weight: 5.76 kg
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