CIRCA 1910, DESIGNED BY PERCY MACQUOID, WITH LATER MARKS FOR LONDON, 1952

Percy Macquoid (1852-1925) is best remembered today as a scholar and connoisseur of English furniture. His four volume History of English Furniture, covering respectively The Age of Oak, The Age of Walnut, The Age of Mahogany and The Age of Satinwood has been reprinted and is still in use today. The son of Thomas Robert Macquoid (1820-1912), an illustrator, Percy started his early career as an illustrator and theatrical designer working, for example, on a 1906 productions of Anthony and Cleopatra and Nero and producing decorations for the now demolished St. James's Theatre, King Street. He and his wife Theresa, who he married in 1891, lived at The Yellow House, Bayswater, London and a further house in Hove. A portion of his collection was donated to the Brighton Museum and was used to furnish a room at Preston Manor. Family tradition has it that these candlesticks were designed by Macquoid and made as a commission in the early years of the 20th century and only later sent to the Goldsmiths' Company to be hallmarked.