Description

An excellent pair of early English antique silver candlesticks by the sought after maker Benjamin Godfrey. Fine quality and made of heavy gauge cast silver. In the French Huguenot taste, each with a knopped baluster stem on spreading circular base and decorative border. These stunning candlesticks are beautifully chased all over.

Weight 1180 grams, 37.9 troy ounces.
Height 25.5 cms. Base diameter 12.5 cms.
London 1740.
Maker Benjamin Godfrey.
Sterling silver

Marks. Both have a full set of clear and matching English silver hallmarks. There is also a lions head erased mark to the top of each stick.

Literature: Cast candlesticks started to appear circa 1685, these are much heavier in weight and capable of withstanding greater wear. The first loaded candlesticks appeared circa 1765 and are made of sheet, and not cast.

These beautiful candlesticks are in very good condition.

Maker: Benjamin Godfrey

Benjamin Godfrey (1699-1741) was apprenticed to John Craig the Westminster jeweller in 1716 for 7 years. In 1729 he acquired a jeweller’s premises in Norris St, just 18 months before the goldsmiths Abraham Buteux and his wife Elizabeth (Eliza) moved their silver manufactory to Norris St. When Buteux died in 1731 his widow Eliza (daughter of Simon Pantin) continued the family business and several months later in 1732 she and Benjamin were married. Benjamin was not a Huguenot but born to an affluent English family with cousins in the aristocracy. He continued both the retail jeweller’s shop and the silversmith’s premises in Norris St and despite having no experience of silvermaking he entered marks at Goldsmiths Hall as a largeworker, presumably for use by Eliza. 1st mark in 1732, 2nd and 3rd marks in 1739. When Benjamin died in died 1741 Eliza entered her own widow’s mark. The Godfreys’ work displays strong Huguenot influences in design and fine execution, their later works incorporating rococo designs. Just as one would expect from a family background such as Eliza’s. biography extracted from Sandra Robinson's "Simon Pantin & His Children"

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