Pair of candlesticks

Joseph Moillet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the era before gas lighting and electricity, candles played a principal role in illuminating the domestic interior. Beeswax candles burned clean, has a pleasant smell, but were quite expensive compared to those made of tallow. The relatively small size of this pair of candlesticks, made in Paris by Joseph Moillet in 1700–1701, may be an indication that they were part of a toilet set or at any rate would have been used in private domestic quarters. Supported on an octagonal foot, the baluster shaft and candle holder are decorated with incised lines. The simple and clear design is typical of the period.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art