Pair of Candlesticks

Germany

1810-20

  • Titles Pair of Candlesticks (Descriptive)
  • Medium cast iron
  • Dimensions 12 3/16 × 4 15/16 in. (31 × 12.6 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of American Cast Iron Pipe Company, 1986.277C
  • Work Type candlestick
  • Classification Furnishings and Equipment

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Oval medium blue jasper intaglio with standing female figure
Slightly convex dish with impressions for a cup. The dish's exterior is smooth black basalt. The interior is glazed black and the dish's lip is unglazed. There are two concentric circles impressed into the dish's interior.
Cover for an unidentified object of dark blue jasper dip with white relief decoration, on the top a pattern of acanthus leaves with some shading, the finial with a floral element.
Round black and white jasper medallion with profile portrait of H.R.H The Prince of Wales (1894-1972), was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December the same year. Edward was the eldest son of George V and Mary of Teck. He was named Prince of Wales on his sixteenth birthday, nine weeks after his father succeeded as king. As a young man, he served in the British Army during the First World War and undertook several overseas tours on behalf of his father. Edward became king on his father's death in early 1936. However, he showed impatience with court protocol, and caused concern among politicians by his apparent disregard for established constitutional conventions. Only months into his reign, he caused a constitutional crisis by proposing marriage to Wallis Simpson, an American who had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second. The prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions opposed the marriage, arguing that a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands was politically and socially unacceptable as a prospective queen consort. Additionally, such a marriage would have conflicted with Edward's status as the titular head of the Church of England, which at the time disapproved of remarriage after divorce if a former spouse was still alive. Edward knew that the British government, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, would resign if the marriage went ahead, which could have forced a general election and would ruin his status as a politically neutral constitutional monarch. When it became apparent that he could not marry Wallis and remain on the throne, Edward abdicated. He was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI. With a reign of 326 days, Edward is one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British history. After his abdication, he was created Duke of Windsor. He married Wallis in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. Later that year, the couple toured Germany. During the Second World War, he was at first stationed with the British Military Mission to France but, after private accusations that he held Nazi sympathies, he was appointed Governor of the Bahamas. After the war, Edward spent the rest of his life in retirement in France.