Four candlesticks 1783 - 1784

Curator: Let's turn our attention to these "Four Candlesticks," created by Cornelis Hendrik Bömcke between 1783 and 1784. Crafted from silver, they exemplify decorative art from the Rococo period. What strikes you initially? Editor: They gleam with wealth and power, a relic of times when domestic space was a key stage for displays of social standing. I notice its column form. Almost architectural! Curator: Precisely! The Rococo style emphasizes opulence, and we can see that manifested here in the choice of silver, a valuable commodity tied to specific extraction economies. Bömcke, whose mark this is, was operating within networks of supply chains that facilitated such commodities. Think about the labor involved: the mining, refining, and the silversmith's craft itself. Editor: Absolutely. The candelabras are heavy with symbolic weight. While their primary function is utilitarian, the artistry elevates them to signifiers of class and privilege. Candles provided light but possessing elaborate silver candlesticks screamed something else: exclusivity. It makes you wonder about who held power, whose labor allowed for that domestic aesthetic? Curator: These candlesticks exemplify how aesthetic pleasure is often entangled with socio-economic disparities. Every curve, every embellishment is evidence of both skilled craftsmanship and access to resources not available to all. This is high production quality with direct relations to consumerism of a time in history of global shifts in production. Editor: Right, these objects acted almost as propaganda. And in our time, as relics from that area they now tell those stories from a different vantage. Thinking about them now asks us to think critically not only of design history, but also of power and injustice that were, quite literally, embedded into the lives of objects themselves. Curator: They prompt us to reflect on the intertwined relationship between aesthetics and societal values, revealing, through its making, what was at stake when it was first fabricated. Editor: They are like beacons then from a past, reminding us to never unsee.