Ashinaga & Tenaga Candlesticks

A pair of Meiji period Japanese candlesticks modelled as Ashinaga & Tenaga, the mythological fishermen.

Folklore tells the power of co-operation as these two, hailing from different countries, use their physical differences to great effect. Ashinaga, with his long, long legs, carries Tenaga on his shoulders out to sea. When fish are seen swimming around them Ashinaga can bend down and Tenaga is able to reach into the water with his long, long arms and scoop up a catch.
In this pair, their catch baskets are used as the sockets for the candles and they stand on bases of abalone shells, the odd small crab scurrying about.

Made of a tin rich alloy covered in copper and with small amounts of parcel-gilding.

11.75 inches high