118 - Bronze candelabra base with a black patina. The openwork triangular structure is adorned with a design of facing sphinxes surmounted by female busts on the faces, grimacing masks, and wild animal heads on the edges, with the corners supported by griffins.

Bronze candelabra base with a black patina. The openwork triangular structure is adorned with a design of facing sphinxes surmounted by female busts on the faces, grimacing masks, and wild animal heads on the edges, with the corners supported by griffins. England or Northern Germany, late 12th–first half of the 13th century H.: 9.3 cm (Damage and missing pieces; sawed off at the base) Candlesticks of this type were produced during the 12th and 13th centuries in England, as well as in northern Germany and Flanders. Motifs featuring chimeras, sphinxes, or griffins appear frequently in these pieces: they are notably seen on two similarly crafted examples at the British Museum in London (inv. 1878, 1101.90) and at the Focke Museum in Bremen. Reference: P. Flock, O. Von Falcke, and E. Meyer, *Bronzegeräte des Mittelalters, 1. Romanische Leuchter und Gefässe, Giessgefässe der Gotik*, Berlin, 1983, p. 52, figs. 112–113, p. 54, fig. 119.