MARK OF ROBERT GARRARD, LONDON, 1839

These candlesticks, purchased by Sir Anthony de Rothschild (1810-1876) in the forty-day sale of Richard, 1st Duke of Buckingham's (1776-1839) Stowe property, were described as 'A pair of exquisite taper-candlesticks, of agate mounted with silver gilt, with masks, lizards, and insects of the most beautiful work.' It was evidently the belief of many in the saleroom, including the purchaser, that they were antique; certainly the price realised, over £48, was astronomical for candlesticks which were in fact made by the Royal goldsmith Robert Garrard in Panton Street, London just nine years previously. H.R. Forster in his book of the sale, The Stowe Catalogue Priced and Annotated, London, 1848, described the dramatic moment 'When the hammer fell, the manager of a well-known house [Robert Garrard], rising from his seat at the table, quietly remarked - "I made them and sold them for less than half the money." This observation naturally occasioned some excitement..' J. Culme, in 'The most shocking fakes', The Silver Society Journal, vol. 2, 1991, p.86, illustrates these candlesticks and describes the scene at the Stowe sale when the maker of the candlesticks and those bidding realised the success of modern manufacturers in deceiving, whether intentionally or no, Victorian collectors of articles made in modern times but in what was then understood to be the antique style.