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| A Pair of English Regency Five-Light Ormolu Candelabra by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell
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Circa 1805
Height: 24 in. (61 cm) Width (max.): 17 ¼ in. (44 cm) Side of square base: 6 ½ in. (16.5 cm)
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The central square tapering stem with chased acanthus scrolls and rosettes headed by four chased classical female heads under a reeded collar and a lotus-leaf bulb issuing a central light stem and four double scroll arms terminating in rosettes with leaf nozzles, on a turned circular base with chased leaf-tip and reeded decoration raised on a square plinth.
The London firm of Rundell, Bridge and Rundell were the leading goldsmiths and jewellers in Regency London, supplying silver, silver-gilt, ormolu and gold objects to the British aristocracy and Royal Family as well as numerous foreign dignitaries and statesmen at a time when London was the capital of an emerging Empire and the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. Started by Philip Rundell of Bath (1746-1827) in 1785, the company maintained elegant premises at 32 Ludgate Hill near St Paul’s Cathedral, and employed the leading metalwork designers and silversmiths of the day, including Benjamin Smith, Digby Scott, Paul Storr and John Flaxman. They held the Royal Warrant from 1797 until 1843, serving George III and George IV both as Prince Regent and King.
Though unsigned, these candelabra display archetypal characteristics of Rundell’s work. The stem and base are identical to those on a silver-gilt two-light candelabrum designed for the firm by Benjamin Smith and Digby Scott and supplied to William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale (1787-1872) in c.1805 (Victoria & Albert Museum, London). The scrolling arms with palmettes are related to those on a pair of silver-gilt candelabra also designed by Smith and Scott for the Duke of Cumberland, younger brother of the Prince of Wales, in 1804-5 (Flick Collection, London, illustrated in Christopher Hartop, Royal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell & Bridge 1797-1843, London 2005, p.60, fig.48). The design was obviously highly esteemed by the Royal Household, as the Prince Regent ordered several sets for himself in 1804-5 and again in 1807 and 1810 (now in the Royal Collection, illustrated in Jane Roberts, Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration, London 2002). The model also employs a simlar capital of addorsed classical female masks, heavily gadrooned drip pans and a reeded collar on the central stem. The highly unusual leaf-tip insertions into the nozzles also appear on the silver-gilt Salisbury Candelabrum, for which an engraved design exists, presented to Lord Salisbury on 13 June 1821 (Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, ill. in Hartop, Royal Goldsmiths, p.111, fig.107).
Although the majority of Rundell’s surviving production is in silver-gilt, the firm did produce work in ormolu, chiefly for the most prestigious commissions. The most celebrated example is the famous six-light Egyptian candelabra inspired by Piranesi designs, two pairs of which were supplied to the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House, Sussex in 1802-5 (one pair illustrated in Hartop, p.54, fig.43). Two pairs of the same model were supplied to the Prince Regent in 1811 (Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace and Brighton Pavillion), and a further three pairs to Richard, Marquess Wellesley, at Apsley House, London between 1806-12 (sold Christie’s New York, 20 October 2004, lots 526-28).
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