A pair of George II candlesticks
£4,200
Auction: 30 November 2010 at 11:00 GMT
Description
by James Kerr, Edinburgh 1745 - 1746, Assay Master Hugh Gordon, the simple socket sconces above facetted and knopped baluster stems, raised on domed quatrefoil bases with spiralled shell decoration to corners, on stepped rim (2)
Dimensions
20cm high, 11.5cm wide at base, 17.5oz and 18.5oz each
Footnote
Notes: The survival of cast George II Scottish candle sticks is unusually small, when compared to the much larger survival of English examples. One theory for this has always been that Scottish makers would have retailed these types of wares rather than made them, so they would carry the mark of their English maker rather than Scottish retailer.
With the rise of specialist candlestick makers south of the border it seems a credible explanation.
However the style, proportion and decoration of these sticks is rather unusual and definitely points to a Scottish design and manufacture. The fluid spiralled shell details to the bases and proportions of the slender stems, while reminiscent of English examples is rather quirky in its designs, so there is little doubt these were made in Scotland rather than just retailed.
The placement of the marks to the underside of the plain foot rim in the domed angles is obviously trying to mirror that of English examples but the thin applied foot rim allows little space and the marks are often off struck.
While James Ker would be an obvious candidate for retailing English wares (with his family and political connections in London) he is by the same token a very likely candidate to have made them being perhaps Edinburgh's premier goldsmith of the era.
References:
'Compendium of Scottish Silver II' R & J Dietert, illustrated plate 10, listed page 98