CANDLESTICK  
C/ Historiador Palau, Denia

Bronze
h: 47.5 cm; diam: 26 cm
Islamic
Fatimid Caliphate
11th century

 

Restored bronze table-top candlestick made up of three pieces assembled together. The base is in the form or a spherical cap with tabs projecting from the rim and from which three legs in the shape of horse hooves are attached. On top of the base is an inverted cone shaped pivot with an everted flat rim. The shaft of the candlestick is supported on this pivot, and is formed by a spherical node, a smooth hexagonal column and another spherical node with a flared top to support the saucer. The saucer is a truncated cylinder shaped disk with a flat base, short sides and a thickening border with a slightly everted rim. The candlestick is not decorated. It was made in a sand mould and the connecting pieces and assembly of the three pieces were soldered together with tin.

This candlestick is one of nine which appeared in a collection of bronzes in Denia (AZUAR, 1989, 51SS) and is a very singular find, as so far no other similar candlesticks have been found in the Iberian Peninsula. The bronzes were studied by J. Zozaya (1967) and they most likely arrived at Denia as part of a gift that the Caliph Fatimi sent to the Taifa Iqbal al-Daula in thanks for the food supplies sent to help relieve the famine suffered by Egypt in the year 1055 (AZUAR, 1989).
C.S.: 7701
TERUEL, 1988.