In 1968, John Craxton slipped past a low‑hanging chandelier while buying a bronze lion at Elizabeth Denton's antiques shop in Marylebone—recognizing the work as a Giacometti piece despite the listing’s anonymity.
Watson had commissioned Giacometti in 1947 to create the chandelier for the offices of Horizon, the literary magazine he co‑founded with Cyril Connolly; the original purpose was to illuminate the editors’ workspace in Bloomsbury.
After Horizon shut in 1950, the chandelier went into storage; the chain of custody that brought it to Denton's shop remains undocumented.
In December 2021 the Fondation Giacometti authenticated the work, clearing the way for Christie's to list it as a unique piece created between 1946 and 1949.
Christie's auction on 28 February 2023 drew a record‑breaking price of £2.922 million, with a hammer figure of £2.4 million and a buyer’s premium included.
On 18 July 2023 the UK government announced a temporary export deferral, giving a British institution the chance to acquire the chandelier before it leaves the country.