434.
A PAIR OF CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL PRICKET CANDLESTICKS
Qing dynasty, 18th century
30,5 cm high each
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 5293, 5297.
The base of both shaped as a bell, supporting a cylindrical shaft fitted with a round tray and ending with a gilt metal pricket, the whole external surface decorated in polychrome enamels on a bright turquoise ground, the base with a sinuous scroll of lotus flowers below a band of lappets, the dish with lotus blossoms, the upper part of the cylindrical trunk with a lively floral composition.
This kind of candlesticks was usually used in a set of five pieces (wugong), together with a pair of flower vases of gu or zun shape and a ding incense burner, on the altars of temples (see for example the complete set formerly in the imperial collection: Li Jiufang, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Metal-bodied Enamel Ware/ Jinshutai falangqi, Hong Kong 2002, pl. 138).
