Pair of Renaissance brass pricket candlesticks

A pair of late Renaissance brass pricket candlesticks of unusually small scale, each with a well-turned baluster stem rising from a circular moulded base, surmounted by a broad drip pan with original pricket. The compact yet robust proportions, with bulbous lower stem and restrained architectural detail, are characteristic of Netherlandish workshops in the late 16th century.
Small pricket candlesticks of this type were often intended for private devotion, serving on domestic altars, within chapels, or as part of the intimate furnishings of the household interior. Their survival as a matching pair is particularly uncommon, reflecting both their quality of casting and the care with which they have been preserved.