Bottom Section of Candle Holder

What appears to be a baluster vase is actually the bottom section of a three-piece ceramic candleholder for use on a temple altar. By the late sixteenth century, a new line of ceramic wares for furnishing temples had been established. Large candleholders and incense burners of complex shapes and elaborate decoration were produced. The underglaze blue painting was fairly crude, however, and by the seventeenth century, the production and export of high quality blue and white was in its decline.