A pair of George II silver-gilt two-light candelabra, John Pero, London, 1733

shaped triangular bases with claw-and-ball feet issuing from acanthus sprays, stems formed as kneeling blackamoors chained at collar and ankle, each supporting a circular drip pan and spool-shaped socket, bases later engraved with the crest of Lascelles beneath a baron's coronet, undersides engraved No. 1 26=5 and No. 2 26=8, the latter also with cancelled scratchweight 26=11

Edwin Lascelles (1713-1795), 1st Baron Harewood or Edward Lascelles (1740-1820), 1st Baron Harewood of Harewood and later 1st Earl of Harewood
Thence by descent to HRH The Princess Royal (1897-1965) and Henry, 6th Earl of Harewood (1882-1947); sold Christie's, London, 13 March 1957, lot 99 (£2,200 to Asprey)
Mrs Antenor Patino, Duchess of Dúrcal; sold Sotheby's, New York, 1 November 1997, lot 132
The Whiteley Trust; sold Christie's, London, 13 June 2001, lot 132

Michael Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, Woodbridge, 1971, p. 55 (illus.)

Though blackamoor candelabra appear to have originated in the late seventeenth century with Anthony Nelme, the form remains quite rare, and only a handful of eighteenth century examples exist. These include the John Pero library candelabra, also 1733, sold Christie's, London, 6 March 1900, lot 97 and 12 June 1923, lot 51; a 1697 Nelme pair formerly in the William Randolph Hearst collection, sold Christie's, London, 14 December 1938, lot 62; a pair by Benjamin Godfrey, 1739, sold Christie's, London, 17 June 1895, lot 60; and a single candelabrum formerly in the collection of the Marquesses of Sligo, Anne Tanqueray, circa 1730, sold Christie's, London, 13 May 1953, lot 71.

John Pero (1694?-1741), a son of John Pero of St. Botolph without Aldersgate, London, and his wife Jane, was apprenticed to Thomas Farren on 30 June 1709. He became free in 1717 and entered his first mark on 24 August of the same year.