Benjamin Franklin: A Pair of George III Silver Candlesticks, Louis Black, London, 1763

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), London, gifted to

Mary "Polly" Stevenson (1739-1795), London, to her son

Dr. Thomas Tickell Hewson (1773-1848), Philadelphia, to his son

Dr. Addinell Hewson Sr. (1828-1889), Philadelphia, to his daughter

Emily Hewson (1865-1935),

By descent to present owner

The candlesticks were a gift from Benjamin Franklin to Polly Stevenson and Dr. William Hewson upon their marriage in 1770. Franklin went to London in 1757 as an agent of the Pennsylvania assembly, and remained there, except for a brief return to Philadelphia, until the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775. In London, he boarded at 63 Craven St., the home of Margaret Stevenson, where he met her daughter Mary "Polly" Stevenson, aged 19 years, and formed a close mentorship. There are around 150 letters between Franklin and Polly that survive. Franklin encouraged a match between Polly and his own son William to no avail. Later, Franklin walked Polly down the aisle at her wedding, since her father was no longer living. By family repute, he gave the couple a set of four silver candlesticks as a wedding gift, two of which are the present lot. After the death of her husband in 1774, and at the urging of Franklin, Polly moved from London to Philadelphia in 1786 with her three children, William, Thomas, and Elizabeth. Franklin then tried to make a match between Polly's daughter and Franklin's grandson. Along with members of his family, Polly was one of the people at Franklin's bedside when he died in 1790.

The set of four silver candlesticks passed by descent to Polly's son, Thomas Tickell Hewson (1773-1848), who became a renowned Philadelphia physician. Polly's will, dated June 7, 1794 and proved April 15, 1796, is published in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1905, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 310-319, where it states: "To Thomas Tickell Hewson silver candlesticks inscribed with Dr. Franklin's name." 

After Thomas died, he left the candlesticks to his son Dr. Addinell Hewson. Upon Addinell's death, the set of four candlesticks were split between two of his children: two to his daughter Emily Hewson (the offered lot) and two to his son, Addinell Hewson, Jr. (1855-1938). The second pair descended within the Addinell Hewson, Jr. family, who loaned them to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exhibition on Colonial Silver (Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin, June 1921, Issue 68, p. 46, No. 321).

Shortly after arriving in London, Franklin wrote to his wife about his need for silver candlesticks. In the February 19, 1758, letter, Franklin wrote "I am about buying a compleat Set of Table China, 2 Cases of silver handled Knives and Forks, and 2 pair Silver Candlesticks; but these shall keep to use here till my Return, as I am obliged sometimes to entertain polite Company" (American Philosophical Society).