Pique-cierge in champlevé, engraved and gilded... Lot 6

Pique-cierge in champlevé, engraved and gilded copper, with light blue and red enamels. High pyramid-shaped hexagonal base resting on three curved feet, decorated with coats of arms at each corner, all different, interspersed with a stylized scroll. Limoges, late 13th century H. 10.7 cm - L. 6.4 cm (damaged spike, minor enamel damage) This is a fairly rare model of a small portable picnic table, this one being particularly unusual in that the shields decorate the corners rather than the sides of the base, as is the case with other known models. It can be compared to a base preserved at the Museo Valladolid in Spain (inv.9931), or to a piccolo from the Alex Brunet collection, lot 171 of the September 26th sale. The standardized coats of arms that decorate them should be considered more as ornamental than as belonging to a specific family or character. Copied and recopied in the workshops, they are more or less well interpreted and sometimes difficult to decipher. For example, on this one, the less common shield with two bars can be compared with that of Gules semé de trèfle d'or à deux bars du même adossés et brochants seen on the Valladolid models or those in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Limoges (inv.463). Provenance : - Private collection, Charente-Maritime. Book consulted : - A.C. Dumargne, "Les chandeliers et piques-cierges portatifs à décors émaillés de Limoges des XIIIe-XIVe siècles" in Cahiers LandArc, n°18, 2016.