Lot Essay
Conceived as sacred urns on the altar of love, the French royal blue plinths bear the badge of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV. The Prince's enthusiasm for antiquity was reflected by his Buckingham House apartments, decorated in the early 1780's and, later, the furnishings of Carlton House, carried out under the direction of Henry Holland
The face of the altar plinths, embellished with triumphal filigree ornament, portrays 'antique' medallions of female figures emblematic of Love. One holds doves in a cage while her companion, accompanied by Cupid, frames butterflies within a garland. The back and outside panels are enriched with matching flower-sprays.
The exceptional quality of the filigree ornament on the pedestal reflects the hand of Michael Edkins, enameller and gilder on glass, of Bristol, whose grandson claimed that he was 'exceedingly clever at ornamenting ... blue glass ware, ... at which he had no equal'. In the 1780's he worked as a freelance artist for the firm of Lazarus Jacobs while retaining connections with Matthew Boulton of Birmingham, in which city he had previously worked. In particular, the pattern of floating leaves accompanying flower-sprays which appears on their plinths can be found on a group of tea cannisters that has been attributed to him. The candlesticks' ormolu acanthus-buds which support the foliate glass pans, reflect the quality of Boulton's Soho works. Such candlesticks may have been retailed through the famous glass retailer William Parker of Fleet Street, who submitted in 1781 a patent method for 'Making pedestals...for candlestick...variously ornamented', and applying them to plinths.
The face of the altar plinths, embellished with triumphal filigree ornament, portrays 'antique' medallions of female figures emblematic of Love. One holds doves in a cage while her companion, accompanied by Cupid, frames butterflies within a garland. The back and outside panels are enriched with matching flower-sprays.
The exceptional quality of the filigree ornament on the pedestal reflects the hand of Michael Edkins, enameller and gilder on glass, of Bristol, whose grandson claimed that he was 'exceedingly clever at ornamenting ... blue glass ware, ... at which he had no equal'. In the 1780's he worked as a freelance artist for the firm of Lazarus Jacobs while retaining connections with Matthew Boulton of Birmingham, in which city he had previously worked. In particular, the pattern of floating leaves accompanying flower-sprays which appears on their plinths can be found on a group of tea cannisters that has been attributed to him. The candlesticks' ormolu acanthus-buds which support the foliate glass pans, reflect the quality of Boulton's Soho works. Such candlesticks may have been retailed through the famous glass retailer William Parker of Fleet Street, who submitted in 1781 a patent method for 'Making pedestals...for candlestick...variously ornamented', and applying them to plinths.