These torcheres may have been commissioned for a house built circa 1741-1745 or alternatively they may have been part of the furnishings of Duddingston House, Midlothian which was built by Sir William Chambers between 1763-1768.
With the neo-classical treatment of their Palladian 'therm' pilaster form they show a stylistic development on from the group of Kentian mask-headed pedestals dating from the 1730's and 1740's of which there are examples at Hampton Court Palace, Chatsworth and Longford Castle (R. Edwards & P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., 1954, vol. III, fig. 1,2 & 4) as well as in the Victoria and Albert Museum (W47-1962). This group has traditionally been attributed to Benjamin Goodison but research by Treve Rosoman on the Chatsworth pedestals has shown that they were supplied by John Boson to Lady Burlington at Chiswick in 1735, together with other furniture discussed by Rosoman in The Original Interior Decoration of Chiswick House, Burlington Magazine, October 1985, pp.663-677.
The strongly architectonic style reflects the influence of contemporary architectural designs such as one for a related chimneypiece jamb published by T. Lightholer in The Modern Builders Assistant in 1742 as plate 65