John Schofield
A pair of George III silver two-light candelabra
John Schofield
A pair of George III silver two-light candelabra
By John Schofield
London 1789
Height 44.5cm, Weight 97.9oz.
In the neo-classical, each with fluted urn shaped sconces, tapering fluted stems with reeded borders, circular bases with reeded border, with detachable branch section, the two leaf-capped and faceted scroll arms issuing from below a central urn, with a fixed cover, the wax pans below the sconces.
Although widely known as Schofield, both the clerk's entry and signature of this maker are as above. No record of apprenticeship or freedom, which for a maker who occupied such a prominent position in the plateworking of the late part of the century is tantalizing. First mark entered as plateworker, in partnership with Robert Jones, 10 February 1776. Address: 40 Bartholomew Close. Second mark alone, 13 January 1778. Address: 29 Bell Yard, Temple Bar. Third mark, 1st October 1787. Heal records his always as Schofield, with all the above addresses and dates, and with 1796 as later date for Bell Yard. He also records Robert and John Scofield, 1772-6, for which see under Schofield (above).
In his candlesticks and candelabra Schofield displays a high degree of elegant design executed with impeccable craftmanship, which rivals at best the contemporary French goldsmith Henri Auguste. It was perhaps the restrained taste of the period that prevented Scofield from displaying a virtuosity which might well have given him a reputation equal with Lamerie or Storr. No one could mount glass better, as is shown by his cruet in the Rotch Collection (Victoria and Albert Museum). It seems likely that he worked for Jeffreys, Jones and Gilbert, the then Royal goldsmiths, and that he may have had considerable commissions for Carlton House.
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