Pair of 17th century Italian Altar Pricket Lamps
Italy
1682
Silvered copper
38 ¼” x 8″ diameter
A pair of large Italian Baroque silvered copper repoussé altar prickets fitted as table lamps. Baluster stem with paw feet and rocaille decoration surrounding an engraved cartouche. The base is three-sided. Two of the cartouches bear inscriptions: “TERRAE VETRALLAE FECIT ANNO DOMINO 1682” and “R.D. JOSEPH LATINUS PAROCHUS S. JOANNIS”; the third cartouche is engraved with cypress trees. These dramatic pricket sticks were originally made for ceremonial use in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Cesena, Italy at the end of the 17th century.
