Pair of Renaissance Bronze Pricket Candlesticks

A magnificent pair of large Renaissance bronze pricket candlesticks, each with a broad dished drip-pan above a finely turned stem, cast with undulating baluster and knop elements, enriched with engraved leaf ornament to the collars. The bases are boldly modelled with three grotesque lion masks issuing from voluted acanthus, standing upon robust paw feet, and terminating in a square plinth enriched with stylised scrolling. Each with its original integral pricket spike.
The exceptional modelling and sculptural vigour of these candlesticks places them within the mainstream of Renaissance bronze casting as practiced in Italy and the Low Countries during the mid-16th century. The form, with its muscular leonine supports and strong architectural geometry, is related to designs by Jacopo Sansovino and Girolamo Campagna in Venice, and to North European interpretations from the workshops of Nuremberg and Antwerp, where Italianate ornament was rapidly disseminated through engravings by Cornelis Floris and Vredeman de Vries.