Hand of Glory Antiques in Wiltshire offers a pair of highly decorative antique Italian trompe l’oeil altar board panels, probably made in the 19th century.
Offered together for £2500, each features an architectural balcony hung with garlands of flowers. The opposing ends include a seated cherub holding a candelabrum, the tops of which are set with iron prickets to hold candles. The cherubs are removable and slot into the bases.
The panels come from a palazzo near Todi in Umbria, but dealer Lisa Lloyd believes that they were originally altar board panels from a church. Signs that the candelabra have been used are evident in the wax on the panels and burn marks to the reverse.
Lloyd, of BBC Antiques Roadshow, was previously a director of Roseberys in London and launched her business in 2012. She opened her new premises in Market Place, Chippenham, earlier this year.
