CANDLE HOLDER 597092

Description: A medieval (1275-1325) heraldic foot from a folding candle holder, formed from a single copper alloy plate in the shape of three shields placed end to end, the bottom shield extending into an elongated triangle (possibly zoomorphic) at the bottom. A D-shaped loop projects above the shield at the top. The top shield carries traces of now-red enamel but the design is lost; the central shield has traces of horizontal raised lines in the copper alloy; the bottom shield has three diagonal lines of now-blue enamel. To the reverse are traces of gilding. The loop has a 5.5mm diameter piercing. The foot curves forward and then backward and then forward again at the point. It measures 86.25mm long, 17.40mm wide and 7.05mm thick. It weighs 18.43g. Compare another example on the PAS database, LIN-91AC94, which has similar heraldry. The stand would have comprised two further feet, all joined to the central stem by way of their loop at the top. Compare a complete example dated to c. 1300, illustrated in Taburet-Delahaye, E. (1996) Enamels of Limoges 1100-1300 (Metropolitan Museum of Art), p. 379, no. 134. It is pointed out there that the arms are taken from a standard repertoire of designs and should not be expected to conform to a particular genealogy.

Date: 1275 - 1325

Object type: CANDLE HOLDER

Last import: August 15, 2017