CANDLESTICK LION

– E. Viollet-Le-Duc, *Dictionnaire raisonné du mobilier français*, Paris, 1874, vol. 2, pp. 62–63.

Our rare artefact is almost identical to the one discovered at Wenhaston, Suffolk, on 22 January 2019 (Portable Antiquities Scheme ref. NMS-11D931) and which was sold at Sotheby’s London on 7 December 2021 (lot no. 12).

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London holds a similar object, stylistically slightly later, dating from the 15th century, described as a chandelier component and attributed to Flanders [Inv. No. M.16-1953].

In his *Dictionnaire raisonné du mobilier français*, Viollet-Le-Duc describes the exact function of this rare component, which formerly formed part of a candlestick fitted with a two-armed socket mounted on a screw-shaped rod, so that it could be raised or lowered, depending on whether the arms are turned in one direction or the other: 

“Here (Fig. 7 bis) is one of these candlesticks, made of cast brass, which forms part of the Cluny Museum’s collection. It is 25 centimetres tall. The rod is screw-shaped, and the socket A is threaded so that it can be raised or lowered along this rod, depending on whether the arms are turned in one direction or the other. However, as there is a risk of hot wax dripping onto one’s fingers whilst turning the arms, an animal is impaled on the end of the stem and pivots easily without being able to engage with the screw. If one wishes to raise or lower the candles, one takes hold of this animal by the tail and rotates it to the right or left; the animal’s body touches the candles or even the sockets and causes them to turn in one direction or the other – that is to say, to move up or down – without the molten wax dripping onto one’s fingers.”