Design for a Silver Chandelier with Two Variants

George Wickes

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The design is one of two recorded designs for silver chandeliers, supplied to Robert Walpole by George Wickes for Houghton Hall (Norfolk) in 1743. Whether Wickes himself designed the pieces is unclear. It appears that the designs were never executed in silver, as they are not recorded in the inventories made after Walpole’s death in 1745. This drawing focusses on the main body of the chandelier and shows two variants for the decoration of the arms, which possibly explains the two loose sheets it is made on. On the left side, a dragon-like mask forms the mount for the arms, while on the right side the arm is supported by the characteristic head of a Saracen, which confirms the connection with the Walpole family, and Robert Walpole in particular.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art