The names ring a bell

Here we go again. Dolores commented in a previous and highly interesting post of mine about candlesticks, that the one illustrated looked like it could double up as a bell, and I said that some of them actually did. Then, bugger me (actually, don't), I came across one on eBay that actually was a bell at the bottom, with the candlestick as the handle. It was for sale by an antique emporium in the USA and was engraved with various Dutch or German names and the date, '1641'.

I don't really think that it was made in that year, but it is a very interesting and unusual object, so I made them an offer of not much money which they accepted, and I paid with a card the same night. There is a slight chance - it is hand-engraved - that it is a bit older than the early 20th century that they put it at, but I will find out - if and when it arrives.

After I had bought it, I did a bit of online research by typing in the names and date engraved on it's side, and found that the whole item seems to be some sort of ritualistic Christian device, purporting to date from the time when witch-burning and exorcisms were at their height in Northern Europe. The four names seem to relate to the four points of the compass, and are still used as an incantation by modern, so-called 'Wicca' pagan witches today, judging by some strange websites I came upon during the search. So even if this thing is only a few years old, it should still sell well at another time - so long as it is aimed at the right sort of romantic religious nutters.

You may recall the nightmare situation I had when I bought a candlestick from nearby Holland recently, which was destroyed by UK Border Control. It was sent by specialist courier, whose main specialisation seemed to be in losing things entrusted to their care.

This one is being sent from the USA using UPS, and has a tracking number to go with it. When I looked up the tracking data, I found that UPS had declared it to be on it's way three days BEFORE I had actually bought it.

Wish me luck.