Monumental Candelabrum (Coat of arms of the Charles Brudenell- Bruce the Second Earl of Ailesbury and his Wife)

This candelabrum, with its interchangeable centrepiece bears the London hallmarks for 1816-1817. It is engraved with the arms of Charles Brudenell-Bruce, who succeeded to the title of Second Earl of Ailesbury at the death of his father in 1814 and was created Marquess of Ailesbury as a recipient of one of the coronation peerages of George IV, in 1821. The maker was Paul Storr, (1771-1844) one of the most important independent goldsmiths in London, who between 1807 and 1819 ran the Dean Street, Soho, workshops of Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, the most important firm of goldsmiths in London. London was then the largest city in the western world and, after the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, had become the shopping centre of Europe and an important centre for the production of luxury goods. There was, during the Regency and succeeding periods, a constant demand for lavish ceremonial and display wares, jewellery, medals, snuff boxes, medallions, extensive dinner services and related table wares, which the RBR firm and its associate goldsmiths like Storr, supplied to its wealthy clients, especially after it had received the Royal Warrant in 1797. The candelabrum-centrepiece is a prime example of this very type of monumental, ceremonial works that became fashionable with aristocratic patrons who followed the tastes set by the court of the Prince Regent.