A PAIR OF GEORGE III GILTWOOD AND GILT-METAL TWIN-BRANCH WALL LIGHTS

These wall lights correspond to Robert Adam's design for a pier glass for 'the Parlour' at Kenwood, illustrated in Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1774, vol. I, no. II, pl. VIII. Adam, having consolidated his reputation for true 'taste for the antique' through the publication of the Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro (1764), introduced elements such as the confronted sphinx, derived in part from the Roman temple of Antoninus and Faustina as illustrated in A. Desgodetz's Les Edifices Antiques de Rome (1682).