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Lot Essay
A chandelier featuring closely related sunbursts with Apollo masks is in the Victoria Art Gallery, Melbourne and illustrated in M. Mortimer, The English Glass Chandelier, Woodbridge, 2000, pl.106, pp.167-8, while a related pair of candelabra is illustrated in Nineteenth Century Lighting, p.105, pl.140. Further related examples sold at auction include a pair of candelabra, Christie's, London, 13 November 1997, lot 2 (£7,475). Another sold more recently, Christie's, London, 21 November 2006, lot 184, while a third related pair was sold at Christie's, London, 29 November 2001, lot 2 (£22,912 with premium).
Angela Burdett-Coutts, granddaughter of Thomas Coutts, founder in 1778 of the bank Coutts & Co for her Piccadilly Mansion, 1 Stratton Street, whose property she had inherited upon Thomas's death in 1822. Born Angela Georgina Burdett, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet, and Sophia Coutts, she became in 1837 the wealthiest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather's fortune of nearly three million pounds via his wife Harriott Mellon. As well as the Stratton Street property, she inherited The Holly Lodge at Highgate and was a significant collector of works of art. She became one of the most celebrated philanthropists of the era, in recognition of which she was created Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1871, and after her death at Stratton Street in 1906, was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Angela Burdett-Coutts, granddaughter of Thomas Coutts, founder in 1778 of the bank Coutts & Co for her Piccadilly Mansion, 1 Stratton Street, whose property she had inherited upon Thomas's death in 1822. Born Angela Georgina Burdett, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet, and Sophia Coutts, she became in 1837 the wealthiest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather's fortune of nearly three million pounds via his wife Harriott Mellon. As well as the Stratton Street property, she inherited The Holly Lodge at Highgate and was a significant collector of works of art. She became one of the most celebrated philanthropists of the era, in recognition of which she was created Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1871, and after her death at Stratton Street in 1906, was buried in Westminster Abbey.