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An ebony candlestick with silver buttons inset on each side, this piece sets dark wood as the body of the object and uses silver only as punctuating accent. The buttons mark the wood at intervals, and the contrast of the bright metal against the ebony is the whole of the design, an inversion of the usual silver-first hierarchy.
The device of silver set into wood belongs to Spratling's mature vocabulary, where applied silver gave his wooden objects rhythm and refinement (Morrill, p. 73). Here the wood carries the form and the silver supplies the rhythm.
Its production history is unusual: a review of Spratling's catalogues suggests the design was made for only about five years, with a 1967 wholesale price of $36.80, and it has since been reissued. The candlestick is recorded in Cederwall and Riney's Spratling Silver. A short production run makes original examples scarce, and they come to market only occasionally.
Candleholder, 1947-1949
Accession TD1989.46.8. Official museum record Photo: The Wolfsonian-FIU.
Candleholder, 1947-1949
Accession TD1989.46.7. Official museum record Photo: The Wolfsonian-FIU.
Verified against each institution's own collection records. All museum collections
Museum of Mexican Silver. “Silver Button Ebony Candlestick.” Catalog no. MoMS-000817. https://museumofmexicansilver.com/pieces/spratling-153
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William Spratling
Silver Circle Candlestick on Rosewood Base
First Design Period: 1931 - 1946
Silver
