CIRCA 1740

These torcheres form part of a closely related group that was almost certainly the product of the same workshop. One candidate for the authorship of this group is Peter Hasert (d. 1746) who in 1741 supplied a pair of 'high Mahogany Stands with cut rims' for Ham House, Surrey, which are almost certainly the closely related pair illustrated by Peter Thornton and Maurice Tomlin in 'The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House, Surrey', Furniture History, 1980, fig. 159. Torcheres of this model (with minor variations to the decoration) have been prized additions to the collections of some of the greatest 20th century connoisseurs of English furniture, with examples featuring in the collections of Percival Griffiths (R. W. Symonds, English Furniture from Charles II to George II, London, 1929, fig. 197), J.S. Sykes, Noel Terry and Samuel Messer (a single example from the Messer Collection was sold at Christie’s, London, 9 June 2005, lot 257).