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Lot Essay
These magnificent chandeliers are copies of a royal chandelier made for King William and Queen Mary for their Thameside palace, Hampton Court. Commissioned for the silversmith George Garthorne, (active 1669-1730) in circa 1690 the Garthorne chandelier was hung in the centre of the King's Presence Chamber. Garthorne has used the Royal heraldic badges of the monarch, each surmounted by a royal crown to form the cresting of the chandelier. The Garthorne Hampton Court chandelier is a celebrated example of the rarest of silver forms, Royal silver furniture. The richest aristocrats also commissioned silver furniture. For example in 1696 and 1697 the Earl of Chesterfield sold all his 'stands, tables and fire utensils' when plate was called in by King William III at four shillings and four pence per ounce (P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, vol. 1, London, 1954, p. 328). The extravagant use of silver in their construction of silver chandeliers has meant that very few survived the numerous meltings of Royal plate that took place in the 18th and 19th centuries. The chandelier was designed to complement silver tables, mirrors and stands. According to a 1721 inventory for St. James's Palace there were a further two silver chandeliers in the Royal Collection, which are now lost. A silver chandelier in the collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch at Drumlanrig Castle is believed to be that given as a wedding present by Charles II to his natural son, the Duke of Monmouth. Another of the 1680s is at Chatsworth in the Duke of Devonshire's collection and there is a further silver chandelier at Knole dated 1700 (J. F. Hayward, Huguenot Silver in England, pp. 64-65 and plate 77). A number from the 18th century also survive.