A pair of Regency bronze candlesticks, £1800 at Paul Laidlaw.
Standing 13in (33cm) high, the design of three sphinx to the base and three owls to the capitals includes engraved pseudo hieroglyphs and an inscription to three sides reading Oedipus Expounded Her Riddle, She then Destroyd Herself (sic) and Oedipus Expounded Her Riddle.
These candlesticks offerd in Carlisle on February 25 are very much in the manner of William Bullock (1773-1849), the older brother of the Regency furniture designer George Bullock.
Although better known as a collector, naturalist and antiquarian (he founded a Museum of Natural Curiosities at 24 Lord Street, Liverpool in 1795 that later moved to the Egyptian Hall: Piccadilly), he was a designer of some merit and a talented jeweller and goldsmith.
A detail of the bronze candlesticks at Paul Laidlaw.
The Museum of Fine Art in Boston has a similar pair of candlesticks that sit atop large seated models of the sphinx and marble bases.
The estimate at the auction was £100-150.
