A SCARCE GEORGE II DESK CANDLESTICK

A SCARCE GEORGE II DESK CANDLESTICK
JAMES KER, EDINBURGH 1733
Assay Master Archibald Ure, the tapered knopped stem of octagonal section, with socket sconce above, raised on a square base with inswept corners with dished central well, engraved with initials with garter and earl’s coronet above and Order of the Thistle badge suspended, the opposing side with crest 
16cm high, 12.2oz
The Murray Collection of Silver and Sheffield Plate, Lyon & Turnbull, 20th August 2003, lot 198 Private Collection
HeraldryThe Cypher of James Duff, the 4th Earl Fife and the crest of SinclairThe cypher of two entwined letters ‘F’ surrounded by the Circlet of the Most Ancient Order of the Thistle ensigned by an earl’s coronet and below the Circlet a representation of the Star of the Order of the ThistleThere is also engraved upon this candlestick a crest of A Cock proper armed and beaked or (for Sinclair)The cypher and coronet of the Earl Fife, together with the insignia of the Order of the Thistle allows at the very least the earliest date for this engraving to 1827. This was the year that Lord Fife was appointed to be a Knight of the Thistle. Given the crest of the cock of the family of Sinclair engraved upon this candlestick the present hypothesis is that it came down to the Duff family through the marriage of Lord Fife’s uncle, James Duff, the 2nd Earl Duff (born 28th September 1729 died 24th January 1809) and Lady Dorothea Sinclair (born 4th April 1739 died 30th September 1818), the only child and heiress of Alexander Sinclair, the 9th Earl of Caithness and his wife, Lady Margaret Primrose. Therefore, upon the death Dorothea, Countess of Caithness in 1818, the candlestick was inherited by her nephew, Lord Fife, and he thereafter caused his cypher and coronet to be engraved on same.James Duff, the 4th Earl Fife (1776-1857) was the eldest son of The Honourable Alexander Duff (later the 3rd Earl Fife) and his wife, Mary Skene. He married Mary Caroline Manners (1775-1805) at the Parish Church of St. James, Piccadilly in the Liberty of the City of Westminster and County of Middlesex on the 9th September 1799. She was the second daughter of John Manners, of Hanby Hall and of Grantham Grange in the County of Lincolnshire and Lady Louisa Tollemache (the later the 7th Countess of Dysart). Sadly, James and Mary’s marriage only lasted a little over five years and three months. There was no issue from their marriage, and he never remarried. After his wife Mary’s death in 1805 although it appears that he never had any military training, in 1808 he volunteered to serve with the Spanish forces during the Peninsula Wars against the French as a distraction from the loss of his wife. By all accounts, he acquitted himself well, notably at the Battle of Talavera (27th – 28th July 1809) where he was severely wounded. That same year he took the courtesy title of Viscount Macduff upon his father’s succession to the Earldom of Fife as the 3rd Earl. James was present at the Defence of Cadiz (5th February 1810 – 24th August 1812) and during this time, he was once again severely wounded during an attack on Fort Matagorda in 1810. For service to the Spanish cause, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. He was further honoured by the Spanish king by being appointed as a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Ferdinand. James succeeded his father as the 4th Earl Fife (together with the family’s minor peerages) on the 17th April 1811. He was appointed as the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire in 1813 and held his office until 1856. Further, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Banffshire in 1815 and sat in such a capacity in the House of Commons at Westminster until 1827 when he was created Baron Fife in the County of Fife within the Peerage of the United Kingdom on the 27th April 1827. Upon his death in 1857, the United Kingdom Barony of 1827 fell into extinction for the want of a male heir whilst the Earldom of Fife and other peerages were inherited by his nephew James Duff as the 5th Earl.