A RARE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE OCTAGONAL EUROPEAN-SILVER-SHAPED CANDLESTICKS Qianlong period, circa 1740 The silver-shaped candlesticks painted in rich enamels with various flowers around the nozzles above iron-red scrolls on a yellow ground at the bulbous section, the baluster mid-section with ruyi-shaped cloud lappets suspending pendant shield-shaped hangings above a band of iron-red key pattern and a further bulbous lower section with ruyi cloud lappets, the rounded stepped octagonal base painted with various minutely detailed fruit, nut and berry groupings above a wide band of pale-blue and sgraffito scrolling lotus. 8in (20cm) high (2). Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1740年 青花五彩八方歐洲銀器型燭臺一對 Published: Cohen & Cohen, Baroque and Roll, Antwerp, 2015, p. 76, no. 50 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Baroque and Roll》，安特衛普，2015年，頁76，圖版編號50 It is unusual to find such a close copy of a European metal shape, and candlesticks are rare survivals as they are by definition very fragile when made of porcelain. These sticks on stepped bases are dated to the second quarter of the 18th century because that is when this style was particularly popular in Western Europe, and many examples of such sticks survive cast in silver. Although it was probably still cheaper to have copies made in porcelain in China than to buy a silver version in London or Amsterdam, this pair may have been a relatively expensive 'special commission', since one anticipates a quite high wastage rate for a very slender upright shape like this during the firing, and then (after that initial firing 'in the white') the sticks had to be enameled and fired a second time at a lower temperature. See another similar pair illustrated by Cohen & Cohen, The Golden Gate Collection, Antwerp, 2018, p. 49, no. 39.