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Help identifying/authenticating antique chinese candlestick (candle holder).

by Matt S.
(Bristol, IN)

Right Side view

Right Side view

I bought this elephant at an estate sale and am having a difficult time figuring out if it is the real thing or a reproduction. I did find a couple other white elephants like this one and each had it's own different paint scheme, all very similar but different. I also noticed that a mark of some sort is found on the inside of the blanket that is over the elephant, mine has no such marking. I do know that some of the earlier versions of the elephant made no mention of having a mark on the underside of them which leads me to believe that not all of these elephants have a makers mark. My question is, do you believe this version is the real thing and have you heard of reproductions of this elephant being done? Any help you can give me with this would be greatly appreciated, thank you. Also, the elephant is about 9 1/2" tall and the legs are solid but the main body is hollow.

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candle holder
by: peter

Hello,
With "real thing" you mean an antique item I assume? I would think this is neither antique nor a reproduction. This is possibly a 20th century product judging from part of the painted decoration, but I could not tell exactly from when. The way the eyes are painted definitely points to a later manufacture, but I do not remember having seen any such porcelain among antique items from the Qing dynasty. Generally said, elephants or animals in general were not plenty at the time, except some bird figurines. The majority of figurines seen today were all made in the 20th century.

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