Nepalese Candle Holder with Pierced Work

Openwork pendants hang from the drip pan like earrings on a very tall guest.

This candle holder with pierced work comes from the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, and is contemporary. It is brass. Brass lamps and candle stands are a familiar sight in Nepali shrines, and the Kathmandu Valley has long been a center for casting and piercing metal. Here the stand is built in stacked sections: a beaded round foot, a pierced bell, a lotus knop and a long tapering shaft, all cut through with tiers of tiny leaf-shaped openings. A dragon winds around the shaft. The wide drip pan is edged with lotus petals. It is 21.5 inches high and 11 in diameter.

Built for one candle, ornamented for a festival.