Pricket Candlestick

The pricket candlestick was an object of church use, in which the master managed to combine practical purpose with the expressive plastic language of his era. Designed to illuminate the interior of a temple, this single-light candlestick could be placed on the altar or near an icon. The piece features a single candle holder, mounted atop a tall, turned stem. The composition is executed in the traditions of the Baroque, where the vertical movement ascends from a massive, stable base to a refined, almost delicate termination. At the bottom is a tripartite, characteristically carved base resting on three low scroll-shaped supports (volutes). The base is adorned with a relief carved ornament of resilient acanthus shoots that rhythmically intertwine, imparting a sense of motion even at rest.
From the centre of the base rises a shaft with a swelling decorated with distinct fluting and toruses. This ornamental element structurally connects the base with the stem while compositionally guiding the viewer's gaze upwards. The vertical axis of the candlestick – elongated and slender, built on the alternation of turned baluster-like elements that evoke an architectural balustrade. The plastic pulsation of the object alternately compresses and expands the refined volume of the stem, creating a dynamic rhythm characteristic of Baroque plastic art.
The candlestick terminates in a wide, profiled drip pan, in the centre of which is a sharp metal pricket for securing a candle. Despite losses, particularly to the paint layer and gesso, the work has fully preserved the structural and plastic expressiveness of its silhouette. Its artistic solution is characterised by a clear rhythm of geometric elements on the stem, which contrasts with the expressive relief plasticity of the floral ornament below.
The combination of the strict vertical axis with the organic freedom of the base ornamentation is a defining feature of Late Baroque church carving in the western lands of Ukraine. Here, secular decorativeness harmoniously coexisted with the strict functionality of sacred objects. The candlestick is valuable not only as an item of liturgical use, but also as a distinguished monument of local woodcarving, preserving the aesthetic preferences of the 18th century within its form.

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery