Lot 261: A pair of George III silver candelabra, John Roberts & Co., Sheffield, 1806

each with a tapered cylindrical stem, stepped spreadng foot with a border of acanthus leaves and engraved with a coat-of-arms, the stems with an an unusual square knop depicting with four pharaoh's heads on matted ground, the lower section of the stem terminating in four pairs of feet above radiating palm leaves, detachable leaf-capped reeded scroll branches, leaf-wrapped urn-shaped vases, detachable nozzles, loaded

52.5cm, 20 3/4 in high

While this model of candelabra is very unusual, its distinctive Egyptian motifs are in keeping with imagery found on other silver objects of the period. Contemporaneous silversmiths who produced works incorporating Egyptian themes were Benjamin Smith and Philip Cornman, who were in turn looking to designers like Charles Heathcote Tatham for inspiration. While John Roberts & Co. were based in Sheffield rather than fashionable London, the design of these cadelabra show that they were keenly keeping abrest of the current styles of silver being produced in the capital at the time. It is interesting to note that John Roberts & Co. were also looking to Paris for inspiration which can be see in a set of four Louis XV-taste silver candlesticks bearing their maker's mark from 1807, sold Christie's, New York, 12 April 1994, lot 204.