23. BENJAMIN SMITH (1764-AFTER 1826). PAIR OF LARGE SILVER CANDELABRA, CIRCA 1825-1835.

Lot description

Chiselled silver with flowers and rocailles in William IV-Victorian style.
Six arms, with option of transforming it into a large candlestick.
Height 63 cm x 48 cm.
Approx. 12 kg.
Marks corresponding to the silversmith Benjamin Smith (London). The "mark of duty" corresponds to the English monarch William IV (1835).
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Benjamin Smith was one of the great silversmiths of the transitional period in England, under George IV, William IV and a few years of the reign of Victoria I. At first, collaborated with other silversmiths such as Storr and Rundel, but at the beginning of the 19th century, he founded his own workshop. From that period he produced a number of major works such as the Wellington Vase for Apsley House, the residence of the Duke of Wellington (the general who defeated Napoleon Bonaparte). From that point onwards, he became associated with royal collections (with the production, for example, of the Jamaican tea service of 1803). Its most distinctive style can be highly linked to this lot through its openwork rocailles and its distinctive detailed chiselling on each element.