Robert Calderwood, Dublin, Ireland, 1742-43.

Robert Calderwood, Dublin, Ireland, 1742-43.
Superb pair of Irish Rococo candlesticks, Robert Calderwood, Dublin, Ireland, 1742-43, having removable bobeches, shafts with swollen knops terminating in shell fringed nozzles and stepped bases cast with an impressive array of high relief floral and shell motif elements. Each base is engraved with three crests, two of the crests have riders astride their mounts, the third is of an angled arm holding a cross surmounted by a five-pointed coronet. Each engraved discretely in small lettering ''Mae C. Plant 1917'' inside the bases. Hallmarked with Hibernia mark, Crowned Harp, and Gothic letter date for 1740-41 on outer edge, also marked with Crowned Harp on nozzle edges. Maker's mark absent. 11-1/8''h, 5-7/8''dia. Total approximate weight 72.0 troy oz. Exhibition catalogue: ''Irish Silver, From The Seventeenth To The Nineteenth Century, '' by John Teahan, 1982, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, pages 24 & 27. The bobeches on the pair of candlesticks in the exhibition catalogue appear to be of a different form. The bobeches on the present pair have every appearance of being original. Note: These candlesticks have an exquisite old color and patination. The workmanship and quality of this pair of candlesticks places them amongst the finest Irish silver produced in their period, fully equal to the great French silver of the same period. The casting and dimensions match the pair of candlesticks, circa 1745, by Robert Calderwood at The National Museum of Ireland. See also an extraordinary silver basket and liner, the gift of Mae C. Plant, 1745-46, by Nicholas Sprimont, London, England, at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, which is also engraved ''Mae C. Plant 1917''. Mae Cadwell Manwaring Plant Hayward (1877-1956) is also known by her second marriage to banker-industrialist John E. Rovensky, as Mrs. John E. Rovensky.