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The bases of two ceramic candlesticks, each bearing the maker’s mark of a blue painted cockerel.

Candlesticks

These two ceramic candlesticks both feature a winged grotesque holding an upturned helmet and balancing on a dolphin. At the base is a cockerel — the maker’s mark of Ulisse Cantagalli, a renowned Italian pottery maker from the 1800s.

The pieces are a style of tin-glazed pottery known as maiolica and are finished with a ruby-coloured lustre — a technique that the Florentine artist loved and mastered.

Mr. Cantagalli’s pieces are now collectors’ items; his works can be found in major collections around the world, including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

This pair of candlesticks is part of the Upper Chamber’s collection of tableware belonging to former Speakers of the Senate. It’s unclear how or when they were added to the collection, but it’s possible they were gifted to a former Speaker or senator.

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The back of a glazed, ceramic candlestick depicting a grotesque with, from top to bottom, an upturned helmet, a pair of wings and a dolphin tail.

The pedestal of a glazed, ceramic candlestick depicting a grotesque with a dolphin trapped under its legs and feet.