PERSIAN BRASS TORCH-STAND
SAFAVID DYNASTY, CIRCA 1600
£2,800
Auction: 22 October 2013 at 18:00 BST
Description
of tapered cylindrical form with an allover decoration of scrolling foliage and chevron banding, a band of text at the neck, on a spreading circular the cylindrical shaft on a flaring foot, divided into three sections by two raised ribs, the middle section with zig-zag bands of scrolling split-palmettes, above the top rib and below the bottom rib bands of inscription, the foot, a later replacement, with a band of rosettes bearing seated figures on a floral reserve, a narrow border of inscription filled panels on the rim of the foot
Dimensions
31cm high
Footnote
Literature: 'Three Empires of Islam: Masterpieces of Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Art from the Louvre Museum', February 19th - September 28th 2008, Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul and Centro Cultural Bancaja, Valencia, Exhibition Catalogue.
Note: The use of such candlesticks or torch-stands, of which numerous examples exist, has been much debated. However the consensus is now that these objects were only used as torches (mash’al in Persian). This kind of cylindrical pillar shape clearly appeared in the second quarter of the sixteenth century and may come from north-western India. The shaft of pillar-candlesticks may have changed from the smooth to the faceted type around the mid sixteenth century, probably in western Iran.