Before the 1780s, candles were the chief source of artificial light. People used candles and candlesticks all over the house and moved them from place to place as required. The small size of this candlestick suggests that it was probably intended for the drawing room or library rather than the dining room. It is made of Sheffield plate, which looks like solid silver but costs less than half as much. Thomas Boulsover developed this fusion of copper and silver in 1742.

This candlestick consists of die-stamped sections soldered together. Metalworkers used the die-stamping technique to make relief decoration that stood proud of the surface on thin sheets of metal, such as Sheffield plate or silver. They trimmed the stamped sheets, soldered them together and filled them with resin. They 'loaded' or weighted the bases to make them stable. They could assemble the decorated sheets in a variety of combinations. This provided a vast supply of models that differed from each other in only one or two details. This candlestick is in the Neo-classical style. It has a range of classically inspired decoration, including acanthus leaves and swags.