Lot 14
14
A PAIR OF GEORGE III ORMOLU, CUT-GLASS AND WEDGWOOD JASPERWARE TWO-LIGHT CANDELABRA
A PAIR OF GEORGE III ORMOLU, CUT-GLASS AND WEDGWOOD JASPERWARE TWO-LIGHT CANDELABRA
A PAIR OF GEORGE III ORMOLU, CUT-GLASS AND WEDGWOOD JASPERWARE TWO-LIGHT CANDELABRA
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A PAIR OF GEORGE III ORMOLU, CUT-GLASS AND WEDGWOOD JASPERWARE TWO-LIGHT CANDELABRA
8 More
A PAIR OF GEORGE III ORMOLU, CUT-GLASS AND WEDGWOOD JASPERWARE TWO-LIGHT CANDELABRA

ATTRIBUTED TO WILLIAM PARKER AND SON, CIRCA 1785

Details
A PAIR OF GEORGE III ORMOLU, CUT-GLASS AND WEDGWOOD JASPERWARE TWO-LIGHT CANDELABRA
ATTRIBUTED TO WILLIAM PARKER AND SON, CIRCA 1785
Each with square concave sided gilt bases enclosing waisted Wedgwood sections in pale blue-and-white jasper, with classical figures, rams’ heads, and swags in relief, supporting glass containers issuing faceted S-shaped glass branches with van dyke canopies and small triangular spires, further front branches of S-shape with van dyke drip pans and urn-form candle nozzles, and a central branch of snake form with swags of drops and large pear shaped finial; a central triangular spire supports a canopy and urn-form finial, all hung with pear shaped finial drops and swags of chain pear drops
30 in. (76.2 cm.) high, 15 in. (38.1 cm.) wide, 12 in. (30.5 cm) deep
Provenance
With Ronald Phillips, Ltd., London.
Acquired by Irene Roosevelt Aitken from the above, January 2019.
Literature
Ronald Phillips, Catalogue, London, April 2013, pp. 128-129, ill. no. 51.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
P. Macquoid, A History of English Furniture, vol. IV, 'The Age of Satinwood', 1908, p. 135, fig. 126.
O. Brackett, English Furniture Illustrated, 1950, p. 239.
F. L. Hinckley, Queen Anne and Georgian Looking Glasses, 1987, p. 239, illus. 304.

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Lot Essay


WILLIAM PARKER AND SON
The glass seller William Parker established his firm at 69 Fleet Street in 1762, possibly by means of taking over the business of Jerom Johnson. Parker was among the most prominent manufacturers of glass chandeliers, girandoles, and candelabra in the second half of the 18th century. In 1784 the firm is referred to as 'Parker & Sons, glass-manufacturers to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales' (see R.J. Charleston, 'James Giles as a decorator of glass, Part I', The Connoisseur, June 1966, pp. 96-100). Likewise, from 1784 to 1797 the firm appears in the London Directory as 'Wm. Parker and Son, Glass Manufactory', and in 1798 the name changes to Samuel Parker (presumably the son), and this entry is repeated until 1802.

THE MODEL
In 1781, William Parker received a patent for candelabra bases of the same form as the present lot. About a year later, between 1782-3, a set of four candelabra mounted on such 'patent' form, but of cut and gilt green glass bases on ball feet, was delivered to the 5th Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth (see M. Mortimer, The English Glass Chandelier, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2000, p. 97, pl. 43). A three-light candelabrum with the same nozzle design and base in Wedgwood jasperware attributed to Parker is illustrated ibid. p. 107, pl. 54. William Parker's son entered into partnership with the Perry family, to become Parker and Perry in 1802-03 and later Perry & Co. in circa 1820, the prolific chandelier firm who received the patronage of the Royal family.

An almost identical pair of candelabra was formerly in the collection of Percy Macquoid, one of which is illustrated in his celebrated A History of English Furniture. A pair of two-light candelabra with jasperware bases was sold from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler Jr., Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, 6-7 May 1960, lot 495, while a set of four from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller with differing stems but similar Wedgwood bases, was sold Christie's, New York, 9 May 2018, lot 136 ($81,250).

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