Design for a Candelabrum 1765

James Byres created this design for a candelabrum using pen and gray ink with gray wash around 1770. The drawing presents a highly ornamented object intended for a wealthy patron. Note the neoclassical motifs of lion heads and winged cherubs. Byres was Scottish, but he spent most of his career in Rome, where he catered to British aristocrats on the Grand Tour. This was a rite of passage for young men of means, in which they would travel through Europe, especially Italy, to learn about art, architecture, and classical culture. Byres acted as a guide and agent for these travelers, advising them on what to see and what to buy. The candelabrum design reflects the taste for classical antiquity that these tourists acquired in Italy. The object embodies the social structures of its time, in which wealth and status were displayed through elaborate decorative arts. To understand Byres’s design more fully, we can consult period guidebooks, travel journals, and auction catalogs, tracing the circulation of such objects and the social rituals they enabled.