ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN B. BLADES, LUDGATE HILL, LONDON, CIRCA 1810

The firm of John B. Blades was first listed in the London Guide for 1783 at 5 Ludgate Hill. The overall form of this chandelier relates to those seen in a print of Blades' showroom, designed by the architect J.B. Papworth in 1823 and published in Ackermann's Repository of Arts in 1823. As Mortimer comments (ibid., p.139) the fact that this chandelier has storm shades may suggest that it was intended for export, as most chandeliers sent to India were fitted with storm shades. Indeed, demand for chandeliers of this type in the Middle East and India led to the establishment of a sister company, Blades and Matthews, in Calcutta.
An almost identical chandelier - undoubtedly executed in the same workshop - sold Christie's London, Dealing In Excellence: A Celebration of Hotspur and Jeremy, 20 November 2008, lot 22.