Hamilton's Candelabra

Left: Observations sur les antiquités d’Herculanum avec quelques réflexions sur la peinture & la sculpture des anciens; & une courte description de plusieurs antiquités des environs de Naples. Par MM. Cochin & Bellicard. Second Edition (Paris, 1755), plate 12, p. 33

Right: Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Honorable W. Hamilton His Britannick Maiesty's Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Naples, Vol. 1 (Naples, 1766), page 2.

In their Observations sur les antiquités d’Herculanum, Charles-Nicolas Cochin and Jérome-Charles Bellicard reproduced not only large mythological paintings from the royal collection at Portici (e.g. the painting of Chiron from Herculaneum discussed earlier), but also objects of daily use, such as the two bronze candelabra shown on the left. This illustration points to a growing interest in the study of ancient private life among eighteenth-century antiquarians. Artifacts like the bronze candelabra drawn by Bellicard were highly valued both for their historical significance and their aesthetic qualities. Their relatively small dimensions meant, however, that they could be easily and surreptitiously extracted from the Bourbons' archaeological excavations.

Sir William Hamilton was a celebrated collector of classical antiquities. His acquisition methods were, however, often questionable. It is well known that Hamilton illegally exported ancient works of art, often acting against the explicit orders of the Ferdinand IV, King of Naples. In one of his letters, Goethe recounts a tour of Hamilton’s “treasure vault,” where he saw a pair of candelabra that he believed had “strayed…from the cellars of Pompeii.” These illicitly acquired artifacts may have been the model for the candelabrum depicted in image IV of Hamilton’s Collection. Here a set of ancient writing implements and lamps have been juxtaposed with a contemporary tool of antiquarian study, i.e. a notebook. This eclectic assortment of objects alludes to the author’s role in bringing new light to lost knowledge. The corona civica and the lion that decorate the text’s first word (“IT”) lend authority to Hamilton’s practice by evoking the power of two great empires—Rome and Britain.