id: 168417 accession number: 2010.2 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.2 updated: 2023-03-22 03:04:42.003000 Pair of Candelabra, c. 1790–95. Russia, Tula. Cut and polished steel with gold and silvered decoration; overall: 40.7 x 24.8 cm (16 x 9 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.2 title: Pair of Candelabra title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1790–95 creation date earliest: 1785 creation date latest: 1880 current location: 202 French Neoclassical Decorative Arts creditline: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund copyright: --- culture: Russia, Tula technique: cut and polished steel with gold and silvered decoration department: Decorative Art and Design collection: Decorative Arts type: Metalwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 40.7 x 24.8 cm (16 x 9 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * No existing exhibition history. --- PROVENANCE Private Collection (Hotel Druot, Paris, Piasa, 18 June 1999). date: footnotes: citations: Kraemer Family Collection (Kraemer & Cie, Paris). date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Decorative works in steel like this pair of candelabra were made by gun makers in the town of Tula, Russia, to impress the empress, Catherine the Great. digital description: Founded in 1705 by Peter the Great, the armory at Tula developed steadily over the 18th century to become the center of Russian metalworking, especially in arms manufacturing. In the 1770s and 1780s, Catherine the Great took
a keen interest in the work produced there, sending several of the most proficient craftsmen to England to study the decorative application of steel in armories in Sheffield and London. Subsequently, the Tula artisans surpassed the metalworkers in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, producing decorative wares that were as precious and precise as their brilliantly embellished firearms. Empress Catherine was so pleased that she commissioned diplomatic and royal gifts of Tula ware as well as several noted examples of furniture in the distinctive Tula style of cut steel, gilt-bronze, silver, and gold.

The most recognizable characteristic of Tula ware was the use of beads of steel that replicated faceted diamonds and crystals. No other region was able to achieve the vividness of this technique in cut steel. Most works in Tula steel were small and precious such as inkstands, bobbin holders, buttons, footstools, single candlesticks, etc. These candelabra typify the Neoclassical taste in Russia during the late 1700s, a significant moment in Russian design because of the mature level of craftsmanship and style. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, "Cleveland Museum of Art Announces Newest Acquisitions," September 7, 2010, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4979 Negrotti, Rosanna. "Acquisition of the Year." Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors. V. CLXXII, no. 582 (December 2010). page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 42, fig. 9 url: Harrison, Stephen. "Museum Accessions: Cleveland Museum of Art." Antiques (Jan/Feb 2011). page number: Mentioned: p. 82 url: Franklin, David, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with, New York, NY: Scala Publishers, 2012. page number: Mentioned & reproduced: pp. 222-223 url: http://library.clevelandart.org/opac/?func=find-b&find_code=OCL&submit=Search&request=857403600 "Recent acquisitions (2005-11) at the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Burlington Magazine 1312, no.154 (July 2012): 525-32. page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 530, fig. XIII url: Bidwell, Frederick E., and Leslie Cade. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New York, NY: Scala Arts Publishers, 2014. page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 138 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.2/2010.2_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.2/2010.2_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.2/2010.2_full.tif