Pair of glass ornaments (lustres) in the form of pierced fluted shafts, springing from a faceted domed base and extending upwards into a bowl-shape with ogee-cut rim; bowl suspends eight glass faceted drops, terminating in faceted cones. Blades & Co. was one of the great London glass manufacturers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, first recorded at 5 Ludgate Hill in 1783, and later gaining a Royal Warrant from George III. The company expanded, creating diplomatic gifts for the Eastern market, e.g. the suites of candelabra sent by the George IV to the Shah of Persia in 1822, beginning a course of events which led to the establishment of a Blades branch in Calcutta. The architect J.B. Papworth not only designed the company's showrooms, but also seems to have designed some of the candelabra, including those sent to the Shah. John Blades died in 1829, but the company continued to trade at the same premises until 1857.