Pair of Mid 18th Century Sheffield Plated Candlesticks

Pair of large mid 18th Century (c.1755) Sheffield plated candlesticks in the style of John Cafe. The candlesticks are in good, honest original condition and because they have not been touched for many years, require a jolly good and thorough clean! Although most of the original silver plate remains extant, there are some small patches of the base copper showing through (bleeding) due to the candlesticks having been cleaned over a period of over 250 years and being super critical, one of the candlesticks leans only very slightly although this cannot really be seen unless you specifically look for it. Naturally enough, the drip pans (nozzles) are separate and the anthemion style decoration in relief to each corner on the removable drip pans is echoed on each corner of the concave-sided bases to considerable decorative effect and one can clearly see the vertical seams in the images indicating an early manufacture. The candlesticks are in very good overall original condition for their age (around 270 years) and measure 28cm high and 13cm at the widest point at the bases. Please do view the images to appreciate the fine 18th century workmanship and decorative qualities of these useable and functional antiques. Sheffield plate was invented by Thomas Boulsover (1706 - 1788) in around 1742 and whilst he was repairing a copper and silver knife handle, he discovered that he could fuse an ingot of copper and an ingot of silver together and equally importantly, the fact that when the two metals were rolled in a rolling mill, they expanded in unison behaving as if they were one metal and naturally enough, this was a far more economical method than plating an item after manufacture (as had gone before) or working with solid silver and among the first items Boulsover produced were buttons and soon after, larger objects of all manner were manufactured commercially. Please do feel free to ask any questions or email for any further information required.