Henry Petzal Modern Sterling Silver Candle Holder, Lenox, MA, 1979

A stunning display of layered leaves creates this magnificent centerpiece for a table. Three layers of curling leaves with deeply incised lines create the large naturalistic leaves. Beautiful reflections can be seen in the tubular candle holder.

Silver by Henry Petzal is quite rare as all the pieces are hand raised, and each design is limited in number to a maximum of eight. This means that each of his objects was either one-of-a-kind or at the most, eight. One of these is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, see here. 

Henry Petzal was a businessman who 'rose through the ranks to become a textile executive. In 1963, age fifty-seven... he resigned and committed his life to a new career (silversmith)'. (1) Petzal studied at the Craft Students League in New York City under the instruction of silversmiths Rudi Schumacher and William Seitz. (2)

Fifteen examples of Petzal's work are represented in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 'In 1979, the Museum exhibited my work in a case right across the aisle from the Paul Revere bowl... At the opening reception Jonathan Fairbanks (Curator of American Decorative Arts) called these pieces "a major acquisition for the Museum"'. (3)

This rare and stunning candle holder is marked underneath with Henry Petzal's 'HP' trademark and 'STERLING/ HANDWROUGHT/ 1979-5A.' It measures 10 inches wide by 3.75 inches high, weighs 43.05 troy ounces and is in excellent antique condition.

Endnotes:

1. Robert M. Doty, Henry Petzal/ Silversmith, (Manchester: The Currier Gallery of Art, 1987), p. 4.
2. Ibid, p. 7.
3. Ibid, p. 12.