Sunday 6 February 2011

Same illness, different symptoms


This saturday's flea-market purchase - a pair of solid, cast and turned bronze candlesticks from around 1850 - 1870. They weigh over three and a half pounds each! Aren't they handsome? Wouldn't they look good on your dining table? I seem to be developing a bit of a thing about candlesticks now, and I was doing so well in controlling the glass problem too... Oh well.

12 comments:

  1. Now those are gorgeous, and the more you have the better they look together. At that weight, they could be used as a weapon.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. They're absolutely beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. maybe it's a phallic thing????

    ReplyDelete
  4. Difficult to tell by the photos, but they seem to have a reddish 'tinge' rather than yellow. I've always liked that in old Brass.

    They do seem very heavy. Have the bases been lead filled? Go on; tell us how much!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Get the Brasso out! Can't be doing with all that polishing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes Raz - like those little versions they have in 'Cluedo' board games.

    No it isn't, Grouch. I'll let you know if I start collecting antique dildos (actually, I used to have a Roman one once).

    They have a reddish tinge because they are bronze, Cro, not brass. They cost me a little more than the scrap value, so they were quite a bargain. And no, they are not lead-filled.

    They won't be polished like new, Sue. A light rub with a cloth every now and then will do. There is a dealer around here who cannot stop himself from ruining his metalware by polishing it to within an inch of it's life. He must have lost thousands of pounds by destroying hundreds of years of good patina.

    ReplyDelete
  7. And Tom, where to you find room for all the lovely things you buy? Is there a special display room in your compact yet adorable city apartment?

    ReplyDelete
  8. They sit around, cluttering up the place, Mise. The idea is to sell them all, but only about 20 percent seems to get sold. There is an antiques fair coming up here soon, and the plan is to put much of it on a friend's stall in that.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's what comes of speed-reading... One can easily confuse Brass for Bronze!

    ReplyDelete
  10. They would! I really like them.

    ReplyDelete