Sunday 8 May 2016

For John and Iris


I had one of these 17th century English candlesticks once. I sold it for £650. This one in the photo sold for £6,800. My name is not Christie. It's not even Stephenson.

17 comments:

  1. Now we are talking! We are back to culture and refinement! Shame about the difference in the two prices, though. Now, once John comes out from under the duvet, he will surely express his gratitude for this fine post. Or he will talk about dog poop. (wink, wink)

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    1. I think that with the procedure has has had to undergo, he'll be talking about something closely related to dog poop.

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  2. I went to a quite large local Boot Sale yesterday, and was on the lookout for similar sticks. All I found were old clothes and broken plastic toys.

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  3. I dont think it will be dog poo John is talking about today.

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    1. Oh dear, I just saw his latest post. I wasn't up to date on things. Well, the photo of the candle stick should cheer him up.

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    2. I am looking forward to the video. He's bound to want to share it with us.

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  4. That candlestick is positively inviting me to hold it....lovely.

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    1. It's inviting me to steal it. It's from around 1650.

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  5. Amazing that it can be dated and timed so accurately at ten to five.

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  6. That's an awful lot of money for a candlestick. Even an old one.

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  7. Do you regret selling the candlestick? Just looking at the elegant design of the candlestick in the photograph reminds me of how awful some contemporary design is.

    Best wishes.

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    1. Only sometimes. Still, trying to find a replacement at a reasonable price is even more fun than actually having one. It's a bit like a kid looking at a pound of sweets, then how he feels after he has eaten them all.

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  8. How much did this cost in the day? I wonder at what price point it would be in various homes.

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    1. I have 18th century chandler's records of invoices sent to hotels and taverns, but not 17th c. ones. It is all relative in any case. A good 18th century wine glass cost - in real terms - about the same as it would today. A Roman drinking glass, when they were first produced, cost more. Probably about a year's income for a poor person.

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