Pair of Antique Carved Giltwood Spiral (Solomonic) Columns

A pair of antique carved giltwood spiral columns, the twisted form known as Solomonic or barley-twist. Turned and carved wood with water-gilding over red bole, each with a knopped, foliate-carved capital and an iron mounting pin at the top, set on later square wood bases. Columns of this form were used throughout Baroque altarpieces, tabernacles and fine joinery, most likely Italian, Spanish or French work of the 18th or 19th century.

The twist is the whole point. Solomonic columns were designed to make stone and wood look like they were in motion, and the effect survives even in a distressed state. Where the gilding has gone, the red bole beneath shows through, which is exactly the surface decorators pay for and cannot fake convincingly.