A PAIR OF PUCE-DECORATED 'DRAGON' PRICKET CANDLESTICKS QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY

Collection of Weishaupt (no. 79).

It is rare to find candlesticks of this form although a puce enamelled candlestick of related shape decorated with flower scrolls was sold together with a stand in our Los Angeles rooms, 8th March 1979, lot 1266.

George Weishaupt's collection of later Chinese porcelains comprised some nine-hundred pieces collected over a twenty year period between 1950-1970. The collection reflects Weishaupt's passion for porcelain dating between 1800 and 1930, which previously remained relatively unknown. His pieces represent examples of some of the finest painted decoration along with a number of monochrome wares. Two hundred pieces from the collection were included in the exhibition From the Dragon's Treasure, Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1987. In the Catalogue to the exhibition it is mentioned that 'on closer examination they (the 200 pieces) provide valuable insights into "the recreation of ancient motifs". As is so often the case, what appeared initially to be merely a pale imitation of a highly esteemed field of art proved subsequently to be genuinely creative art in its own right, a development that had its parallels in the 19th century European art.'