A PAIR OF VICTORIAN SILVER PRESENTATION SIX-LIGHT CANDELABRA, JAMES CHARLES EDINGTON, RETAILED BY GREEN & WARD, LONDON, 1837 and 1838

the triform bases each applied on two sides with the arms, crest, motto, supporters and coronet of the recipient together with the collar of the Order of St. Patrick, the third side of each engraved with a different inscription, the areca palm stems each surrounded by groups of slaves in idealised plantation attire symbolizing Freedom, including a youth holding a scroll inscribed: 'Whatever be the fate of this Bill, all shall be Free on my Estate on the 1^{st August 1838,' fitted with detachable branches and cylindrical nozzles, the bases of both engraved: 'Green & Ward,' five of the nozzles replacements, A.D.C. Heritage, London, 1983}

Howe Peter Browne, 2^nd Marquess of Sligo (1788-1845) and thence by descent until sold by the Trustees of the Sligo Settled Estates on the instructions of the Earl of Altamont, Sotheby's, London, 13 June 1983, lot 102

Overall condition and marks are good, five of the sleeve-shaped nozzles are hallmarked modern replacements. One of the stems appears to be very slightly bent. The original alternative basket fittings for the top of each ( which were illustrated in a contemporary report) are missing.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The arms are those of Howe Peter Browne, 2^nd Marquess of Sligo, who was born on 18 May 1788, the only son and heir of John Denis, Earl of Altamont (who was created Marquess of Sligo on 29 December 1800), by his wife, Louisa Catherine, youngest daughter and co-heir of Richard, 1^st Earl Howe. Succeeding to the title upon the death of his father on 2 January 1809, he was married in Dublin on 4 March 1816 to Lady Hester Catherine (d. 1878), daughter of General John Thomas de Burgh, 13^th Earl of Clanricarde. Among his various appointments, Lord Sligo was Lord Lieutenant of co. May between 1831 and 1834 and again from 1842 until his death in 1845; he was also Governor General of Jamaica between 1833 and 1836, where he owned estates and plantations amounting to some 20,000 acres.
It was during his governorship of Jamaica that the Marquess of Sligo delivered an address, 'to The Negro Population throughout the Island of Jamaica,' in which he spoke of 'Our good King [William IV], who was himself in Jamaica a long time ago... He has sent me out here to take care of you, and to protect your rights; but he has also ordered me to see justice done to your owners, and to punish those who do wrong. Take my advice for I am your friend – be sober, honest and work well when you become APPRENTICES, for should you behave ill and refuse to work because you are no longer slaves, you will assuredly render yourselves liable to punishment. The People of England are your friends and fellow subjects – they have shown themselves such by passing a Bill to make you all Free. Your masters are also your friends, they have proved their kind feeling towards you by passing in the House of Assembly the same Bill. The way to prove that you are deserving of all this goodness, is by labouring diligently during your APPRENTICESHIP. You will, on the 1st August next [1834], no longer be slaves, but from that day you will be APPRENTICED to your former owners for a few years, in order to fit you all for freedom...' (extract from A Postscript to the Royal Gazette, Jamaica, a copy of which is in the National Archives, CO 141/29)
The inscription on the first candelabrum (hallmarked, London, 1837) reads: 'Presented to the Most Nobel Howe Peter Marquis of Sligo by the Negroes of Jamaica in testimony of the grateful remembrance they entertain for his unremitting efforts to alleviate their suffering and to redress their wrongs during his just and enlightened administration of the Government of the Island and of the respect and gratitude they feel towards His excellent Lady and Family for the kindness and sympathy displayed towards them 1837'
This first candelabrum was presented to the Marquess of Sligo on Saturday, 18 March 1839, at his London house, 2 Mansfield Street, Marylebone, by a deputation of gentlemen concerned in the anti-slavery moment. They were led by the Rt. Hon. Stephen Lushington MP (1782-1873), Joseph Sturge (1793-1859), founder of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, who appears to have been intimately involved in organizing the Sligo testimonial, and 'two gentlemen of colour,' one of whom was Louis Celeste Lecesne (1796/98-1847), a native of Jamaica who attended the first Convention of The Anti-Slavery Society in London in 1840. A report of the presentation in The Morning Chronicle (London, 18 March 1839, p.3c) gave particulars of the 'magnificent candelabrum, with its 'group of West Indian negroes. ... The improvement in the moral condition of the negroes [of Jamaica] is shown by the occupation of the group, as well as in their countenances and dress. A male negro, with a broken whip under his feet, is explaining what he has been reading from a book resting in his hand, to a female seated by his side, who is nursing an infant, an interest in whose welfare is now for the first time conceded to her. A young lad, in the background, unconscious of the cause of the improvement, yet fully sensible of its efforts, is sporting with a goat, now allowed to be domesticated. The appearance of the group is that of a happy and contented family.' A similar report in The British Emancipator (London, 20 March 1839, p. 224a-c) was followed by another in the same publication (3 March 1839, p. 227d) in which this candelabrum is illustrated together with 'the basket [now missing, which] may be placed instead of the branches.
Notwithstanding this formal presentation in March 1839, it would appear, as the 1837 date letter suggests, that the candelabrum had been completed and in the Marquess of Sligo's possession for many months. Under the provisions of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, slavery throughout most of the British Empire was ended on 1 August 1834. It was a gradual process, however, the slaves from that point becoming 'apprentices' until, in two stages, they were given their freedom without further impediment. The first release, on 1 August 1838, was marked on that day by various events in Birmingham, a town which, we are told, enjoyed 'the proud distinction of being the centre, from whence is given the tone and impulse of Anti-Slavery feeling, throughout the kingdom. . . . The business of the day commenced in the morning, by the assembling together in the Town-Hall, between three and four thousand children. . . . In the course of the proceedings the splendid silver candelabrum which had been purchased by the negroes of Jamaica for the Marquis of Sligo, was exhibited to the meeting by Mr. [Joseph] Sturge, who explained to the children the motives which had influenced the negroes in making the present. . . . A very substantial repast consisting of bread, beef, and ham, was then handed round to the children by the attendants, which tended not a little to promote the hilarity and cheerfulness of the happy throng.' (The British Emancipator, London, Wednesday, 8 August 1838, p. 141)
The inscription on the second candelabrum (hallmarked, London, 1838), which includes a list of the names of 114 signatories, reads: 'Presented to The Most Noble Howe Peter Marquis of Sligo the Emancipator of the Salves by the Inhabitants of the Town and Neighbourhood of Westport 1838'
The British Emancipator, in a report of 18 April 1838 (p. 68c/d), explained the background to the presentation of the second candelabrum: 'Pursuant to a Published Requisition, calling a Meeting of the Inhabitants of Westport and its Neighbourhood to devise the best means of expressing the warmest approbation of the conduct of the Marquis of SLIGO, whilst Governor of Jamaica, as well as his disinterested declaration of his intention of FULLY EMANCIPATING HIS SLAVES ON THE 1st of AUGUST NEXT, a most numerous and highly-respectable Meeting assembled at the Court-House of Westport, on Friday, 6th April, when [among others, the following resolution was] unanimously adopted:-
'. . . Resolved, - That the Address to the Marquis of Sligo now read, be adopted, embodying these our sentiments, and that the same be respectfully forwarded by our Chairman to his Lordship, and that for the purpose of recording in the most permanent manner these our feelings, we do respectfully request his Lordship to accept from us some enduring token worthy of him, on which shall be engraven a lasting memorial of his truly Noble conduct, and our admiration of it to perpetuate our feelings for the benefit and instruction of his Lordship's successors as well as our own. . . .
'In proof of this, and of the strong feeling of interest excited among the gentry on the subject which had brought them together, we only need to state the fact, that the sum of FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS was subscribed on the spot, towards carrying into effect the object of the second resolution of the meeting! that is, for presenting to the Marquis of Sligo some enduring testimonial of the admiration and esteem with which his lordship's noble conduct had impressed the minds of the inhabitants of Westport. . . .'
For silver-gilt ewer connected with the Anti-Slavery movement, R. & S. Garrard & Co, London, 1841, see Sotheby's, London, 18 December 2007, lot 153. It was presented to James Lewis, sometime Speaker of the House of Assemby of Jamaica, for his work as a member of the Slave Compensation Commission.
The working silversmith James Charles Edington, one of the several children of James Edington (described as a plasterer but probably a bricklayer or builder), and his wife Susanna (née Smith), was born on 11 October 1803 and baptised soon afterwards at St. Marylebone on 4 December. He was apprenticed to William Ker Reid in 1817 and became free on 1 December 1824, entering his first mark from 43 Berwick Street, Soho, on 6 February 1828. He moved to 23 Leicester Square about 1836, where he remained until his death there, a bachelor, on 2 November 1873. Much of Edington's output, like the present candelabra, appears to have been made for the retail goldsmiths, Green, Ward & Green of 20 Cockspur Street, Pall Mall.