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Lot Essay
Trapani, in Sicily, where the present pricket sticks were made, was a famous center of coral-work production between the 16th and the 18th centuries. Famously expensive and collected or exchanged as diplomatic gifts between European nobility, coral-work form Trapani generally combines a gilt-copper ground with enamel embellishments and was fashioned into a variety of religious and secular items.
The present pair demonstrates many characteristics of workmanship from this region. The gilded copper and coral surface of the pricket sticks is achieved by setting the pieces of carved coral into the metal using a technique called 'retroincastro'. This consists of inserting small pieces of polished coral into pre-punched holes in the metal, which conform exactly to the pieces of coral. The coral is then fixed using a mixture of pitch and wax, sealed with strips of cloth.
A related set of four Trapani candlesticks, but of larger size, was sold from the collection of Manolo March, Christie’s, Paris, 16 June 2015, lot 28 (€ 805,500).
The present pair demonstrates many characteristics of workmanship from this region. The gilded copper and coral surface of the pricket sticks is achieved by setting the pieces of carved coral into the metal using a technique called 'retroincastro'. This consists of inserting small pieces of polished coral into pre-punched holes in the metal, which conform exactly to the pieces of coral. The coral is then fixed using a mixture of pitch and wax, sealed with strips of cloth.
A related set of four Trapani candlesticks, but of larger size, was sold from the collection of Manolo March, Christie’s, Paris, 16 June 2015, lot 28 (€ 805,500).