The cypher is that of Augustus II (1696-1763), Elector of Saxony, and as Augustus III, King of Poland, he succeeded his father, Augustus the Strong, in 1733. Following his father's example, Augustus continued to lavish large amounts of money on artistic commissions for Dresden. His father had written to him in 1719, the year of his marriage, that "Princes win immortality through great building as well as great victories." Of Augustus it was said that "he showed neither talent or inclination for government (but) took great interest in music and painting." Much of the existing silver in the Green Vaults and the Hofsilberkammer was disposed of and new commissions, carried out on the orders of Count Bruhl, were given to Dresden silversmiths. Augustus the Strong, on the other hand, had patronized Augsburg makers almost exclusively (see Jean-Louis Sponsel, Das Grunegewolbe zu Dresden, Dresden, 1928, vol. II, p.127)

These candlesticks are part of the magnificent set recorded by Rosenberg in the Dresden Hofsilberkammer. Together with matching candelabra, they are probably those described as a set of "neu-faconnirte franzoisische Tafel- und Girandolen-Leuchter" commissioned from Ingermann in 1745 and made in the Dresden Court manufactory (see F. O'Byrn, Die Hof-Silberkammer und die Hof-Kellerei zu Dresden, Dresden, 1880, p. 130). A set of six candlesticks, with inventory numbers 39 through 44, were sold in these Rooms, October 18, 1994, lot 47. A pair numbered 37 and 38 was sold by Christie's Geneva, May 17, 1994, lot 126, while another pair, numbered 55 and 56, was sold by Sotheby's New York, April 12, 1994, lot 159. Another six from the set, numbered 29 through 34, in silver-gilt, were sold by Sotheby's Geneva, May 12, 1983, lot 80.