This candlestick is made of Sheffield plate, a fusion of copper and silver discovered in 1742 by a Sheffield cutler, Thomas Boulsover. It imitates the appearance of solid silver, but at less than half the cost. The candlestick form was well suited to the technical innovation of die-stamping, a technique for producing relief decoration in thin sheet silver or Sheffield plate. To make candlesticks, the stamped sheets were trimmed, soldered together and filled with resin, with the bases loaded to give stability. From the 1760s, when the improvement of dies extended their usage to larger items such as candlesticks, a variety of motifs could be assembled in any number of combinations.

A candlestick such as this would have held candles made of tallow (animal fat), beeswax or spermaceti (sperm whale oil). Before the 1780s these were the chief source of artificial light. Even in the 19th century, with competition from oil lamps, gas and electricity, candles and candlesticks remained essential items. They were used throughout the home and moved from room to room as light was required.