Lot Essay
Thomas Messenger and Sons, of whom the chasing of this pair of lamps is particularly characteristic, were primarily lighting manufacturers with a metal foundry in Birmingham, opening a branch in London in 1826 (C. Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, Leeds, 1998, p. 606, cat. no. 733). An identical pair of lamps by Thomas Messenger are in The White Drawing Room, Arlington Court, North Devon. (Maureen Dillon, Artifical Sunshine; A Social History of Domestic Lighting, National Trust, 2002, p. 105.)