Bronze candlestick shaped like an elephant carrying a castle. Germany, 1200-1400 AD [1650×2055]

    by MunakataSennin

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    1. MunakataSennin on

      [Museum](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O69137/candlestick-unknown/). This candlestick highlights a fashion in the 12th and 13th centuries for designs of beasts and monsters on domestic objects. The Elephant and Castle represented here was an exotic motif inspired by the use of elephants in Eastern warfare. Towers were placed upon the backs of the elephants from which soldiers could fire arrows or throw missiles. Elephants were a source of great fascination in medieval Europe because they were little known. In England only the King owned an elephant in his menagerie at the Tower of London.

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