A leaping fish arches up from a rectangular, bead-moulded base, its scaled body curving into a flared, leaf-shaped socket built to hold a candle rather than just stand and look decorative. Wedgwood kept the colour out of it entirely, the cream glaze leaving the crisp moulding on the scales, fins and acanthus-form socket to do all the work.
The base carries an impressed "Wedgwood of Etruria & Barlaston, Made in England" mark, in use from the opening of the Barlaston factory in 1940 onward, which places this as a twentieth-century piece rather than an antique. Fish and dolphin candle stands have a long ornamental pedigree, coiling and leaping forms turn up throughout eighteenth and nineteenth-century decorative arts, and Wedgwood's version here keeps the theatrical curve of the older tradition while trading its usual colour for something plainer and better suited to twentieth-century taste.
Condition notes
Excellent vintage condition. A small area of glaze loss is visible to the rim of the candle socket, exposing the body beneath. Light surface marks and scattered small chips are present to the base, consistent with age and handling.
