Large Gouda Candlestick 17 inch, painted By J.H. Hartgring in 1898-1899

Description

I bought this Gouda Pottery candlestick years ago at an auction in the Netherlands. I had not come to the auction for this object at all, but for another piece of Art Nouveau Pottery, which after a lot of bids was sold to someone else, for too high a price. But I was physically present at the auction, and then you have to sit out the bidding of all object during the evening. At one point in time the auctioneer brought out this candlestick. No one responded to the opening bid. And so, as sometimes happens with auctions, the opening bid goes down. And down, and down. No one offered a bid. I couldn’t understand why and I couldn’t bear the thought of this beauty being left behind as the ugly wallflower at a party. So I raised my hand. And bought the candlestick for way less then this beauty is worth. The auctioneer gave me a compliment: ‘well done, girl’. So I went home that evening with this beautiful candlestick from The Dutch Pottery Zuid-Holland Gouda and a compliment from the auctioneer.

The candlestick is an early piece of Gouda Pottery, made in the period between 1989 and 1899. The object was painted and signed by master painter Johannes Hartgring. The candlestick consists of two parts: the candlestick itself and an insert for the candles with a more narrow opening. The design with the four arms and the bulge at the foot is beautiful. Unfortunately, the foot does have two small chips. The candlestick is 43 cm or 17 inch high and 13 cm or 5,1 inch wide at the foot. The model number 95 is engraved in the base. This is remarkable because most models 95 from the Zuid-Holland Factory have a more narrow part, just below the four arms. So this is probably a very early version of model 95 or an experiment in the development of this model.

This candlestick is not for sale, and belongs to my private collection. Over the years I have become very attached to this beautiful object.