A Set of Four George IV Silver Candlesticks after a French boxwood model, Hyam Hyams, London, 1827

on octagonal bases with rocaille borders, the wells decorated with birds and flowers and engraved with contemporary crest beneath an earl's coronet, rising to knopped stems chased with shells and leaf-tips, the cylindrical sconces with flowerheads, conforming removable octagonal nozzles

The shoulders cast with the Old English letters DM HR

(the model): William Beckford 1760-1844: An Eye for the Magnificent, New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2001, no. 107, pp. 377-78.

some overall wear, stick #4 with base through at one spot and split to lower stem, one nozzle slightly smaller and unmarked
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The design of these candlesticks is derived from French boxwood examples, themselves copying Louis XIV silver originals.  The earliest examples in English Revivalist silver were probably those made in 1800 for William Beckford by Paul Storr through Vuillamy and Son, now in the collection of Mrs. Jerome T. Gans; the present sticks, made almost 30 years later, attest to the popularity of the model once revived.  Beckford claimed his own examples were "executed after an original design by Holbein," thus granting them even greater antiquarian mystique.