Beschreibung:

AN IMPORTANT GEORGE III SILVER SEVEN-LIGHT CANDELABRUM
MARK OF DIGBY SCOTT AND BENJAMIN SMITH LONDON, 1805, PROBABLY RETAILED BY RUNDELL, BRIDGE AND RUNDELL
AN IMPORTANT GEORGE III SILVER SEVEN-LIGHT CANDELABRUM MARK OF DIGBY SCOTT AND BENJAMIN SMITH LONDON, 1805, PROBABLY RETAILED BY RUNDELL, BRIDGE AND RUNDELL On shaped triangular base supported by sphinxes above winged lion paw feet, with tapering column stem and six scroll branches, each with fluted drip pan and detachable nozzles, one replaced, each side of the base applied with a shield engraved with an initial below a duke's coronet, marked under base, on applied shields, winged figures, upper stems, branches, sockets and six nozzles, the replaced nozzle unmarked 36¾ in. (91.5 cm.) high 467 oz. (14,530 gr.) Though the initial has traditionally been identified as being that of the Duke of Sussex the absence of fleur-de-lys in the coronet means that this cannot be the case. A more likely candidate is Edward Adolphus St. Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset (1775-1855). Though christened Seymour, Edward, the son of Webb Seymour, 10th Duke of Someret legally changed his name to St. Maur. Having succeeded his father in 1793 he married first, in 1800, Lady Charlotte Douglas-Hamilton (d. 1827), daughter of Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton, and wife Harriet Stewart. Together the couple had four children. After Charlotte's death he married Margaret Shaw Stewart Seymour. He was a gifted mathematician and served as President of the Linnaean Society from 1834 to 1837 and as President of the Royal Institution from 1826 to 1842. Other silver connected to Somerset includes an entrée dish and cover by Paul Storr 1806 with a finial cast as the family crest (Christie's, London, 15 June 2004, lot 30) and a set of twelve dinner plates by Paul Storr 1814 (Christie's London, 24 February 1971, lot 89).