A PAIR OF PAINTED AND LACQUERED WOOD FIGURAL CANDLESTICKS DEPICTING ONI Japan, 19^th century

Each standing atop a flat rectangular base incised with scrolling vines, wearing short robes with cloud designs at the back as well as leaf-skirts. The one-horned oni further wearing a scaly undergarment covering the stomach, upper arms, and thighs, holding a baku coiled around his body, and with the mouth wide open revealing tongue and teeth. The two-horned oni with his bone-inlaid fangs is tearing a hole in its belly with both hands. Both show fierce expressions, their heads surmounted by a rising cloud base to hold the candle, one with a circular bone-inlaid fitting. (2)

HEIGHT 37.5 cm and 38 cm

Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few minuscule nicks and light scratches, minor losses, possibly few minor old repairs and touchups.
Provenance: From the private collection of a German aristocratic family, acquired before 1960 and thence by descent.

Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related single figure of an oni at Lempertz, Asiatische Kunst, 27 June 2020, Cologne, lot 132 (sold for 16,250 EUR).