A PAIR OF CHARLES II SILVER CANDLESTICKS, MAKER'S MARK D OR ID IN SCRIPT (? ISAAC DIGHTON), LONDON, 1682

Purchased by the present owner from Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd., New Bond Street, 17 June 1966.

David Mitchell in his book, Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London (Woodbridge, 2017, pp. 265-267), prefaces his remarks about ‘D or ID in script monogram, in shaped shield’ with the exclamation, ‘This mark is a problem!’ The late Gerald Taylor attributed it possibly to Isaac Dighton, a conclusion with which Dr. Mitchell ultimately agrees.

Several items with Chinoiserie decoration bearing this mark, dating from between 1682 and 1685 are listed by Dr. Mitchell (p. 265). In addition, a pair of similarly flat-chased candlesticks with columnar stems, London, 1684, were sold at Christie’s, London on 18 November 2008, lot 418. See also a similar pair of Chinoiserie candlesticks, again with the same maker’s mark, London, 1686, sold at Christie’s, London, 31 March 1971, lot 148.

Another pair of cast candlesticks with Chinoiserie decoration, part of a silver-gilt toilet service, formerly in the Swaythling collection, the majority bearing the maker’s mark WE, a knot or riband above, London, 1683 was sold at Christie’s, London on 15 May 1963. This service also included a pair of matching scent bottles bearing the D or ID in script maker’s mark, London, 1687.