Pair of Boston and Sandwich Glass Co. White & Blue Dolphin Candlesticks, 1840–60

A gorgeous pair of circa 1840–1860 antique Boston and Sandwich Glass Company clam broth white and French blue pressed glass dolphin candlesticks.

Italian Renaissance-style dolphin stem on two-step socle in luminous off-white “clam broth”, a distinctive signature color of the company. Capital and lotiform sconce with rounded petals in a very pretty shade of French blue. Capital on the candlestick at left is joined to the stem with French blue glass, while capital on the candlestick at right is joined to the stem with pale blue glass.

Both clam broth and blue glass have a hint of semi-opacity, giving the colors wonderful depth while also making the candlesticks seemingly glow from within when illuminated by sunlight.

The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company was incorporated in 1826 to manage the glass factory built a year earlier in Sandwich, Massachusetts by Deming Jarvis. The factory closed in 1888, with these candlesticks having been produced midway through its sixty-three year existence.