A Pair Of Porcelain And Gilt Brass Candelabra By Thomas Abbott

A pair of porcelain and gilt brass candelabra by Thomas Abbott

A whimsical pair of porcelain and gilt brass candelabra, floral hand painted English porcelain vases flanked by stylised arms over rococo rocky weighted bases. Each with three foliate candelabrums to candle holders with removable drip pans. By Thomas Abbott, bronze founder and lamp maker of Moor Street, Birmingham
English, circa 1840.

These candelabra are very much in the 19th French taste, where they mounted Chinese and European porcelain with scrolled and foliate mounts in the European Rococo aesthetic. The Abbott foundry made many examples of fine candlesticks, often adorned with storks and cranes. The design of these candelabra mounted with porcelain vases is a more elaborate design and one not recorded from Abbott, the weight and quality of the English casting of these brass mounts is excellent.

The hand painted vases are from one of the English factories, through the use of colour they are comparable to Coalport in Shropshire, which is not far from the Abbott foundry in Birmingham, but they could also be from one fo the other Staffordshire factories. The artists often moved from factory to factory which makes an exact attribution more difficult, it would appear that there are two artist hands at work on these vases.

Examples of his work can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.