Pair of George II silver candlesticks, Gurney & Cooke, London, 1734 , square-shaped, with knopped stems, the bases engraved with a coat-of-arms (probably Stroude) within scrolling cartouches. fully marked on undersides, lion passant marks only on sconces.
Dimensions:
Height and weight 16.5cm; 6 1/2 in., weight: 738gr., 23oz. 14dwt.**,
Condition:
a little worn, base of the stem to one restored with reinforced plate underneath
Notes:
**In silver weighing, dwt stands for pennyweight, a unit of mass in the troy weight system equal to 1.555 grams or 1/20 of a troy ounce. It is commonly used by jewellers and silver buyers to measure the weight of sterling silver, with 20 dwt equalling 1 troy ounce
Key Details About DWT:
• Abbreviation: The 'd' stands for denarius (an ancient Roman coin) and 'wt' for weight.
• Weight Conversion: 1 dwt = 1.55517 grams = 24 grains
• Ounce Conversion: There are 20 dwt in one Troy Ounce (20 dwt = 1ozt)
• Usage: It is the standard unit for weighing sterling silver items, such as flatware or jewellery, to determine their melt value.
• Stamps: Sometimes pawnbrokers or jewellers would scratch a number followed by "dwt" on a silver item to indicate its weight.
When dealing with silver, it is important to distinguish dwt from Penny (d) and to remember that it measures troy weight, not the standard avoirdupois weight (a system of weights based on a pound of 16 ounces or 7,000 grains, widely used in English-speaking countries) used for food.
Provenance:
From the collection of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe, West Horsley Place. See Garrard and Company Ltd., The Marchioness of Crewe, Inventory of Plate at West Horsley, 20 December 1950, p. 6.
