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Lot Essay
The present candelabra are closely based on a model by Thomas Heming, the celebrated eighteenth century silversmith who served as Principal Goldsmith to King George III from 1760. Grimwade says of Heming’s commissions for the Royal collection that they display, 'a French delicacy of taste and refinement of execution’ (A. G. Grimwade, London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, London, 1976, p. 543). This Parisian neo-classical influence can be clearly seen in the present model.
When almost certainly sold by the Tollemache Estates in 1953, the present candelabra were preceded in the sale by lot 47, 'A pair of two-light Candelabra, each on circular base with fluted domed centre and fluted pedestal stem, with applied laurel festoons at the shoulders, with two scroll foliate branches and fluted vases in the centre with flame finials, engraved with the Tollemache crest – 16 in. high – the sticks by Paul Storr, 1837, the branches by Thomas Heming, 18th century, with Victorian nozzles’ (lot 47). Owing to the similarities in description, it is therefore possible that the present candelabra were commissioned by the family to complete a set of originals by Heming that had been used by the family for generations. A certain number of eighteenth-century examples of this model by Heming are known, including one offered Christie’s, London, 3 June 2014, lot 340.
When almost certainly sold by the Tollemache Estates in 1953, the present candelabra were preceded in the sale by lot 47, 'A pair of two-light Candelabra, each on circular base with fluted domed centre and fluted pedestal stem, with applied laurel festoons at the shoulders, with two scroll foliate branches and fluted vases in the centre with flame finials, engraved with the Tollemache crest – 16 in. high – the sticks by Paul Storr, 1837, the branches by Thomas Heming, 18th century, with Victorian nozzles’ (lot 47). Owing to the similarities in description, it is therefore possible that the present candelabra were commissioned by the family to complete a set of originals by Heming that had been used by the family for generations. A certain number of eighteenth-century examples of this model by Heming are known, including one offered Christie’s, London, 3 June 2014, lot 340.