On shaped circular bases, boldly cast with rocaille, scrolls and roses rising to conforming baluster stems and campana sconces with two removable nozzles, the bases with three cartouches, one engraved with a crest under an earl's coronet, other two cartouches engraved with a horse and rider, marked on base rims with Hibernia and harped crown, sconces numbered 1, 3, nozzles apparently unmarked, with engraved weights 37=7, 36=8 on underside
11 in. (27.9 cm.) high
77 oz. 4 dwt. (2,400.9 gr.)

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Lot Essay

The crest is that on MacDonnell as borne by the Earls of Antrim, probably for Alexander Mac Donnell, 5th Earl of Antrim (1713-1775), of Glenarm Castle, co. Antrim, Ireland.

The 5th Earl owned a number of successful racehorses. William Pick’s The Turf Register and Sportsman & Breeder's Stud-book, published in 1803 lists at least 14 belonging to the earl, the most successful of which was probably Gustavus, a brown horse foaled in 1745 and bought by the earl in 1752. At the Curragh in 1753 alone he won the Society of Sportsmen’s 100 guineas, the 60 guineas plate and the King’s Plate. The two engraved scenes of races horses and jockeys on the present candlesticks suggest they were a race prize, possibly won by Gustavus.