A set of four similar candlesticks by Thomas Gilpin of the same date are at Althorp, the seat of Earl Spencer. Of these, Arthur Grimwade has commented "These show, for candlesticks, a relatively rare form of surface decoration. This seems to have been peculiar to English plate about the middle of the eighteenth century, and is more frequently met with on tureens . . . The ribbed undulating decoration resembles quilting and such pieces are indeed described as 'quilted' in old plate lists. But it would seem that the inspiration is in fact part of the rococo repertoire of marine details and that the surface is intended to represent waves" ("Silver at Althorp", The Connoisseur, October, 1962). A set of four similar candlesticks of 1754 by Edward Wakelin were sold in these Rooms, October 31, 1990, lot 229.