{"id":36684,"date":"2026-06-02T21:06:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T20:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/proportiodivina.nl\/product\/joseph-mendes-da-costa-1901\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T19:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:10:49","slug":"joseph-mendes-da-costa-1901","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/proportiodivina.nl\/en\/product\/joseph-mendes-da-costa-1901\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Mendes da Costa, 1901"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very rare pair of gr\u00e8s pottery sculptural candlesticks:<\/p>\n

\u2018The light carried by love\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

modeled by Joseph Mendes da Costa in 1901.<\/p>\n

The modeled (!) candlesticks show a man and a woman kissing each other, their right arms wrapped around each other’s waist, their left arms raised to hold up the candle. Red-brown gr\u00e9s earthenware with salt glaze, high 23 cm, both marked with the artist’s monogram and one dated 1901.<\/p>\n

In his book \u2018 the art of J. Mendes Da Costa \u2018 (e.g. Waanders 2014) Louk Tilanus<\/a> describes these candlesticks very strikingly:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Collectie Centraal Museum Utrecht foto Adriaan van Dam<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWith the kiss as a theme, he also modeled an exceptional candlestick \u2013 one copy dated 1901 \u2013 whose upright is formed by a woman and a man who kiss each other in intimate entanglement, their bodies grow out of the foot. The kiss is a common theme in the art of the late nineteenth century; there are drawings and paintings by Munch, Klimt, ToulouseLautrec, Steinlen and Picasso. In the sculpture, The Kiss of Rodin is the most famous; that of Brancusi in the Paris cemetery Montparnasse stylistically comes closest to that of Mendes. Brancusi\u2019s vertical composition is more stylized and block-based than Mendes\u2019 version. The woman on Mendes’ candlestick has long, sly hair, the man wears a beard and a hat of a fairy prince. A beautiful specimen is located in Utrecht in the Centraal Museum<\/a>, from Mendes\u2019 great donation in 1928. There the foot, hands and heads are glazed blue. Mendes had this candlestick carried The light by the world[sic],\u201d (page 31\/32)<\/p>\n

Another copy is in the collection of the Kr\u00f6ller-M\u00fcller Museum<\/a> : \u2193<\/p>\n

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candlestick-with-figures-the-light-carried-by-the-love-joseph-mendes-da-costa-48735-copyright-kroller-muller-museum<\/p><\/div>\n

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