Pair of Victorian Silver Mounted Horse Hoof Candlesticks

Mark of Walter Thornhill & Co., London (1896), commemorating "Sir Julian", the polished and engraved hooved featuring naturalistic decoration to the mount, topped with a baluster form candlestick, together with a framed history.

Each 7 1/2 in.

Collection of a Gentleman, Miami, Florida

In Victorian England, there was a particular fascination with death, mourning, and the memorialization of loved ones and pets. When race horses or horses belonging to high-ranking cavalry officers passed away, they could be memorialized with silver-mounted hooves to commemorate their service or relationship with their companions. These mounts were sometimes elaborate, presented in the form of candlesticks, fanciful inkwells, or boxes.

Natural aging and wear to the hooves, scattered denting to the mounts, one with light soldering to the base of the candlestick.