A PAIR OF GEORGE II MAHOGANY TORCHERES

The hexagonal mosaic-fretted stands with their vase-shaped baluster and scroll feet are designed in the French picturesque style popularised by Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754-1762 (pattern CXLIV dated 1760). They compare to the 'pair of large Candlestands neatly carv'd..' supplied by Chippendale for James, 2nd Duke of Atholl's drawing room at Blair Castle, Scotland in 1758 (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II, fig. 378). A pen and ink design in the Victoria and Albert Museum executed by cabinet-maker John Linnell also shares a similar profile (H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II, p. 134, fig. 263).

A pair of candlestands of closely related form, formerly in the possession of J.M. Botibol and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is illustrated in R.W. Symonds, Masterpieces of English Furniture and Clocks, London, 1940, p. 24, fig. 14. Also see a pair from the Arthur Leidesdorf collection, sold Sotheby's, London, 27 June 1974, lot 20 and later with Hotspur, London.