Pair of Antique Majolica Match Holders, Late Victorian Figural Vestas c. 1890s For Sale

Enhance your antique collection or mantelpiece decor with this exceptional, complete pair of Late Victorian/Edwardian Continental Majolica figural match holders and strikers, dating to circa 1885–1905.This beautiful set features two beautifully molded, slip-cast earthenware character figures standing on textured, grass-like bases next to small purple-lined pots meant to hold matches. The male figure is depicted as a traveling peddler or merchant carrying a yellow pack on his back and a bundle under his arm, while his female counterpart wears a hooded cloak and a classic cobalt blue dress.The reverse of the unglazed rim features a hand-painted brown gilder/painter's mark (resembling an "8" or infinity symbol), authenticating the individual artisan decoration characteristic of European potteries during the late 19th-century majolica boom.

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