A rare sheet-brass cluster-column, round-base, candlestick, English, circa 1800, or possibly earlier, of 'York-type'

Circa 1650 in design, the stem formed as a four clustered column, topped by a wide, flat, circular flange, on a stepped and spreading circular base, with under-rolled footrim, flange diameter 8.5cm.

This style of candlestick is referred to as York-type, after two pairs of pewter candlesticks, all with cluster stems, in the collection at York Minster, York. Both pairs were made by Francis Lucas, York, [fl. 1663 - 1702]. Also, at York Minster Museum, is an impressive pair of silver-gilt candlesticks, again of similar form, made in London, in 1676, by the silversmith Richard Wilkinson. They were donated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, who served ten months as Dean of York Minster in 1664. 

Cluster-stemmed candlesticks of this type are believed to have been produced from approximately 1630. The thin quality of the metal may reflect a Dutch or other European origin, for export for the English market. See R. F. Michaelis, 'Old Domestic Base-Metal Candlesticks' (1978), pp. 86-7 and P. N. and H. Schiffer, 'The Brass Book' (1978), p. 159, fig. C, where a similar round-based example in brass is attributed to England or France and dated to 1650.

A pair of comparable clustered stem brass candlesticks from Stobhall, Property of Viscount Strathallan, sold at auction in May 2012 for £13,730