Similar "quilted" candlesticks of London manufacture are known, including a set of four by Edward Wakelin, 1754, sold in these Rooms, October 30, 1990, lot 229 and a further set by Thomas Gilpin of the same date at Althorp, the seat of Earl Spencer. Of these, Arthur Grimwade has commented: "The four candlesticks show a relatively rare form of surface decoration. This seems to have been peculiar to English plate about the middle of the 18th 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 Conoisseur, October, 1962).