SAMUEL YELLIN | CANDLESTICK

Personal Collection of the artist

Samuel Yellin, Metalworker, organized by the Philadelphia College of Art Alumni Association and circulated by the Gallery Association of New York State, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY, January 20-February 19, 1984; Oglebay Institute Mansion Museum, Wheeling, WV, April 6-June 1, 1984; The Hyde Collection, Glens Fails, NY, July 19-September 2, 1984; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, September 20-October 21, 1984; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY, November 9-December 1984

Two Important Candlesticks from the Collection of Samuel Yellin Metalworkers

From the time of his immigration to America from Ukraine around 1905 through the first years in his legendary Philadelphia atelier, Samuel Yellin used small tabletop forms such as candlesticks to explore the boundaries of his skills as a designer and craftsman. Whether reinterpreting historical forms or boldly composing new structures and ornamentation these works show Yellin at his most creative. 

Because candlesticks were often created for ecclesiastical settings and remain in the churches for which they were made and few residential or corporate clients ever commissioned such works, they are very rare in today’s market. During his lifetime, Yellin retained a small set of exceptional examples, two of which are offered here to the public for the first time (lots 45 and 46). These two examples were retained for 100 years in the collection of Samuel Yellin Metalworkers but nearly no candlesticks now remain with the descendants of the ironworker.

Though some candlesticks Yellin retained for his personal collection at his offices were reproduced from particularly successful examples made for clients the examples offered here are designs known only to have been made for specific use by their maker. Yellin utilized works such as these regularly within the firm in order to allow clients to see structures and decoration that might be used or varied in commissions. The candlesticks present a fascinating microcosm of the genius of America’s great ironworker, wherein one can see complex ideas and novel embellishments skillfully synthesized within pleasing designs.

This diminutive candlestick is a lovely restrained form with particularly beautiful silver-black patina. This finish was used by Yellin to accentuate the silvery shine present in the alloy of iron. Charming two-toed feet are surmounted by boldly arced legs with a tapered and incised shaft rising above to the pierced and crenelated cup. Yellin deftly reduces specific Gothic elements in the turret-like cup, choosing to meld that style to match the fineness of the base. Though this candlestick is unique in Yellin’s output, there is a period picture in the Samuel Yellin Metalworkers Archives of a considerably less-successful version that set a nearly identical form with a lower collar resting upon the legs. (fig. 1) This attempt to repeat a similar shape to the cup as a skirt below did not succeed. The present candlestick was documented in the personal collection of Samuel Yellin in a 1973 photograph showing a range of similar tabletop forms retained in Yellin’s “Museum” of his finest works.