A RARE EARLY ELEPHANT CANDLEHOLDER

CIRCA 1770

Details

A RARE EARLY ELEPHANT CANDLEHOLDER
CIRCA 1770
The beast standing foursquare with his head turned back to one side and his trunk curled up, his hide glazed white with peach shading delineating its wrinkles, an iron-red and gilt cloud pattern blanket edged in green over his saddle and on his back a puce-decorated vase to hold the candle
9 7/8 in. (25 cm.) high

Lot Essay

This model, so reminiscent of Qianlong period recumbent elephant sauce tureens, must have led to the early 19th century iron-red elephant candleholders that are so much more easily found. The elephant bearing a vase on its back was found in Chinese metalwork from at least the Ming dynasty. A magnificent gilt bronze pair, made for the Qianlong court, were in the collection of C. Ruxton and Audrey B. Love, sold Christie's New York, 20 October 2004, lot 353. The white elephant symbolized mental strength and purity in Buddhism, and was in fact the form the Buddha took in his last incarnation on Earth. Compare with the elephant tureens in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, and illustrated by W.R. Sargent, op. cit., pp. 206-7.

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