A pair of George III cut glass, ormolu and Wedgwood three-light candelabra circa 1785, in the manner of Parker and Perry

with S-shaped glass arms and ormolu fittings with a central and secondary arms surmounted by spires and canopies, the cylindrical Jasperware bases decorated with classical figures on ormolu bases

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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."

This important pair of candelabra or girandoles, are very much in the manner of the London glass makers Parker and Perry. William Parker (d.1784) was the founder, whose business in Fleet Street is first recorded in 1762. The business thrived and in 1817 his son entered the business in partnership with the Perry family. William Parker is known to have purchased his materials from the nearby glassworks at Whitefriars, although his antecedents are still obscure. One of his earliest recorded commissions appears to be that for supplying chandeliers for Tea Rooms at Bath Assembly Room, and subsequently for replacing faulty ones which had been supplied by Jonathan Collett. Parker was also responsible for a large and well documented commission for the Dukes of Devonshire at both Chatsworth and Devonshire House. The company became known as Perry & Co. in 1820 and was patronised heavily by George IV and his circle and Geroge Perry wrote in 1835; 'We trust that our having made the greater part of the lustres for the late King, and our being now employed in making those for the new Palace of his present Majesty, will be some guarantee for the character of our Manufacture.'

The basis of the attribution to Parker and Perry is based on several attributes found on the present candelabra. These include the form of the candle nozzle, the arm pattern having a short inner curve and an extended outer curve and the existence of a drawing by William Parker of a remarkable similarly proportioned and designed candelabrum in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, see M. Mortimer, The English Glass Chandelier, Woodbridge, 2000, pp.108-9, pls. 53-56 and p. 100. pl. 46.