Chinese Candle Base with Lotus Motif

Bloom on top, ribbed leaf below, and an unbroken dark gloss throughout.

This candle base with a lotus motif in camphor wood is from Putian, Fujian Province, China, and is contemporary. The lotus rises clean from muddy water, and in Chinese Buddhist and wider Asian art it is generally taken to stand for purity. Stand made of an upper flower with rounded overlapping petals and a lower spreading base carved with long veined lobes. A short, plain neck joins them. The surface is deep brown, smooth and slightly worn at the ridges. It is 11.5 inches wide, 11.5 deep and 8 high.

Plenty of carving for something this quiet.