A unusual Mughal jade Candlestick, Northern India, 18th Century. Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 (€11,000 - 17,000). Photo Bonhams.

of mid greyish-green mottled jade, made in three sections, the ribbed cylindrical body with a rib of chevron motif above and below, on a slightly flaring foot, with sloping shoulder, the truncated neck with horizontal rib, delicately carved in low relief with acanthus leaves 
18 cm. high 

Provenance: acquired Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 7th October 2010, lot 393.

The unusual form of object in jade can be attributed to Muslim craftsmen probably working in Northern India in the 18th Century. The shape appears to be derived from Islamic metal candlesticks of the Medieval period. For a similar but smaller jade candlestick of similar form attributed to the Ming dynasty, exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1935-36, see Exhibition Catalogue International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935, pl. 251, no. 2790. Another candlestick of different form, but with similar decoration can be found in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Catalogue of a Special Exhibition of Hindustan Jade in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, pp. 254-55, pl. 65).

Bonhams. ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART, 21 Apr 2015 10:30 BST - LONDON, NEW BOND STREET