Giltwood candlestick on plinth – Italian neoclassical style, mid-20th c.

A decorative wooden candlestick, 47 cm high, in Italian neoclassical style, also known as Florentine style. The stem is carved with curling feathers and leaf motifs, a beaded rim and an urn-shaped top. It stands on a square plinth with a carved palmette on each side. The whole is painted cream and gilded, with a lovely soft sheen that has worn over the years. The candlestick was once used as a lamp base: it is drilled through lengthwise and has a notch for the cord at the bottom. The wiring has been removed, so it can serve as a candlestick, as a decorative object or (after rewiring) as a lamp again. Condition: fair, with wear consistent with age and use. There is an old break at the neck that was glued at some point. Also a chip with a small hairline crack in the top rim of the urn, craquelure and a fine crack in the paint on top of the plinth, worn gilding and small paint losses. From its former use as a lamp: a hole drilled through the base and a cord notch at the bottom. There is a felt pad under the base.