Candelabrum for the Sulkowsky Service, 1736
Johann Joachim Kändler (German, 1706–1775), modeler
Meissen Porcelain Factory (German, founded 1710)
Meissen, Germany
Porcelain
Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O'Hara Fund, 1992.5.FA

This candelabrum is monumental in the history of open porcelain. It was one of at least eleven candelabra that J. J. Kändler, Meissen’s foremost modeler, created in 1736 for the famous Sulkowsky Service. Count Alexander Josef Sulkowsky (1695–1762) first became familiar with fine porcelain in his role as overseer of porcelain deliveries to the Japanese Palace in Potsdam. When he commissioned the service from Meissen, it was the first large-scale private armorial service ever designed to order. The piece bears the Sulkowsky arms along with those of his wife, Marie Anne Franziska von Stain (1712–1741). Following the delivery of this remarkable service, other German nobles ordered similar examples. Count Johann Christian von Hennicke and Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein requested candelabra of this form.