A near pair of parcel gilt mahogany torchères

These torchères were probably part of a larger set. It is conceivable that two pairs from the same house were mixed up at some stage and subsequently separated. There is little doubt, however, that they both originate from the same workshop. These torchères belong to a group of similar models made of either mahogany or walnut; they all share the same idiosyncratic carved elements, which are generally parcel gilt. A pair of torchères was formerly in the Samuel Messer collection, and another pair was in the Leopold Hirsch collection, dispersed in 1934. Another pair was formerly in the Simon Sainsbury collection, which was dispersed in 2008.