Originally the central globe had four arms, of which two remain; they are shaped like branches and end in animal (perhaps dolphin) heads. One arm is mounted upside down. On top of the globe is a lotus blossom ending in a ring for hanging the lamp, while the bottom of the globe is decorated with a simple cross. Two other candelabra, one in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the other in the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, resemble this piece. The candelabrum in New York has six branches extending from a central globe ending in circular flat plates with chains suspended. The Leningrad example has a midsection shaped like a three-aisled church; the branch shaped arms end in dolphin heads with wide rings that held glass lamps. The light construction of our example, which is very similar to the one in Leningrad, indicates that the glass lamp holders were suspended directly from the four arms.

*(Literature: K. Weitzmann)