QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE IN A LINE WITHIN A PANEL AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Such candlesticks were frequently made as part of Imperial altar garnitures, with ensuite tripod censers and gu-shaped vases. See, for example, the candlesticks from the imperial Qianlong-marked five-piece garniture presented by Lord Kitchener to Sir Thomas Hohler and sold at Sotheby's London, 17 December 1980, lot 677, and again on 11 May 2011, lot 230. Another Qianlong five-piece doucai garniture, formerly in the Meiyintang Collection, is illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 2010, vol. 4, no. 1752, and was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 50.