18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF RARE GILT-BRONZE AND CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL 'FOREIGNER' PRICKET CANDLESTICKS
18TH CENTURY
Each figure finely cast seated on a waisted hexagonal base, kneeling on one bended knee with the foot of the other leg flat on the ground, positioned with one muscular arm raised supporting the drip pan and one hand to the hip, dressed in a dhoti tied with a sash under the exposed rounded belly and an elaborate ruyi-shaped collar detailed with a leafy lotus scroll and beaded tassels, the shoulders adorned with bracelets and a celestial scarf, one figure with mouth open in a smile and with thick curly beard, moustache, brows and hair, the other with straight beard, moustache, brows and hair, the drip pan surmounted with a columnar pricket holder decorated with further lotus scrolls
19¾ in. (49.3 cm.) high, wood stands (2)

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

Sale room notice

Please note that the candlesticks are accompanied by a pair of carved wood stands.

Brought to you by

Caroline Allen

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Lot Essay

A comparable pair of cloisonné enamel and gilt-bronze pricket candlesticks in the form of foreign figures, with very similar facial expressions to the current lot, was sold in our New York rooms, 28 March 1996, Lot 137. There are also similar bronze kneeling figures of foreigners, but supporting large cloisonné enamel lobed censers on their backs, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji;gongyi meishu (A Complete Collection of Chinese Art; Arts and Crafts), vol. 10, 'Gold, Silver, Glass and Enamelware', Beijing, 1987, p. 170, pl. 310. Compare also, the pair of standing figures holding a rectangular jardinière, illustrated by Michel Beurdeley, The Chinese Collector through the Centuries, Vermont and Tokyo, 1966, p.163, fig.88

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