George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings (1808-1844) was the son of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1754-1826) and Flora Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun (1780-1840). A British peer and courtier, he became Gentleman of the Bedchamber to William IV from 1830 to 1831. His father Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings was an Anglo-Irish British politician and military officer who served as Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823. He had also served with British forces for years during the American War of Independence in 1775 and in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars, and also held the office of Aide-de-Camp to King George III between 1782 and 1793. He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Garter (K.G.) in 1812 and created 1st Marquess of Hastings in 1817.
These impressive candelabra relate closely to two pairs delivered in 1808 by Thomire Duterme et Comp. to the Garde-Meuble for Napoleon's petits-appartements at Saint-Cloud, and later moved to Compiègne (ill. M-F. Dupuy-Baylet, L’Heure, le feu, la lumière Les Bronzes du Mobilier National 1800-1870, Dijon, 2010, pp.172-3, fig.94). These further relate to a pair, with only slight variations to the maidens, most probably commissioned by Count Nicholas N. Demidoff (1773-1828) and sold Christie's, London, 10 July 2008, lot 59 (£49,250 with premium).