A George I Britannia standard silver candlestick, London 1716 by Thomas Merry I (reg. 19th June 1701)

A George I Britannia standard silver candlestick, London 1716 by Thomas Merry I (reg. 19th June 1701)

Of octagonal form, with stepped faceted base, the column with stepped faceted knops, the capital with facets. Engraved with a contemporary crest of a demi-griffin segreant to one side and initials L over I * M in Roman script to the other side. Fully marked underneath and lion’s head erased to capital, also initialled I*L in Roman script underneath.

Height – 19 cm / 7.5 inches

Weight – 364 grams / 11.7 ozt

The crest with initials is for Lane, Leslie, Lester, Lewis, Lowe and Lucas

Merry, apprenticed to Henry Grant in 1693 and turned over to John Laughton May 1695, he worked at Green Arbour Court, Little Old Bailey upon registering his mark, before taking over his late masters address in 1704, his work is principally to be seen on candle wares, for further reading see; Percival, S., Thomas Merry citizen and goldsmith of London, Connoisseur, August 1970.

Example of pairs of this exact form of candlesticks by Merry:

London 1713, sold Christie’s New York, 20 April 2000, Lot 272 ($14,100, incl. premium)

London 1715, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 19th January 2002, Lot 115 ($52,500, incl. premium)

London 1714 /15, sold Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 27 May 2008, Lot 344 (12,000 AUD, incl. premium)

London 1714, sold Sothbey’s, New York, 19 Jan 2017, Lot 2073 ($5000, incl. premium)