A set of four George III silver candlesticks, Boulton & Fothergill, Birmingham, 1773, after a design by James Wyatt

each on cut-cornered square bases with incurved sides decorated with guilloche below an engraved crest, the slender baluster stems die-stamped with feathers below drapery, detachable fluted nozzles, turned-wood undersides, the base of each with engraved scratch weight: '9oz '' 2dwt '' 12grs'

Hallmarks and condition are good, the crests may be later (a few small marks behind the head of the leopard may be the remains of a previous crest
"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.
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The design of these candlesticks is based on a drawing by James Wyatt (1746-1813), the brilliant English architect whose work in the neo-classical and gothic styles rivalled that of Robert Adam (1728-1792). It is included in a group of designs for silver, chairs, tables, clocks, mirrors and pedestals as well as architectural sketches from the collection of the late Charles, Vicomte de Noailles (1891-1981), which came to general notice in 1948 with the publication of articles in Country Life and The Architect and Building News.

While Wyatt is remembered chiefly for his architecture, including the Pantheon, Oxford Street, London (1772) and William Beckford’s gothic mansion, Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire (1795-1807), both demolished, he did not confine himself to large projects. As the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has it, ‘The versatility, range, and easy brilliance of Wyatt's work are astonishing. He was equally adept at designing monumental classical buildings . . . or a silver candlestick of incomparable elegance for Matthew Boulton. . . .’

Boulton and Wyatt became acquainted through the latter’s cousin, John Wyatt, who was Boulton & Fothergill’s London agent. The meeting was fortuitous for Boulton’s ambition was to recruit designers for the firm’s products which would find favour with a metropolitan audience, thus removing (in a remark penned in Boulton & Fothergill’s office in 1768) the ‘prejudice that Birmingham hath so justly established against itself.’ It is not clear precisely when Wyatt began to supply designs for silver to Boulton, and also to Wakelin & Tayler in London, but his work for both concerns appears to have been confined to the 1770s.

The present candlesticks, which bear the 1773/74 Birmingham date letter, seem to be among the very earliest of James Wyatt’s designs realized in silver. Other, similar candlesticks are known but the only others to have come to light of the same early date are another set of four Boulton & Fothergill candlesticks of the same pattern which were given by a patron in 1955 to the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama.

For further information, see Country Life, London, 2 July 1948, pp. 24-25; Antony Dale, ‘An album of Wyatt Drawings,’ The Architect and Building News, 24 December 1948, pp. 526-529; and Frances Fergusson, ‘Wyatt Silver,’ The Burlington Magazine, London, December 1974, pp. 750-755.