I collected this today - a little, four inch high taper-stick dating from around 1770, which would have sat on a table in a private room, tavern or coffee-house and been used to light long, thin clay-pipes with, over a glass of wine and pleasant conversation in 'the age of reason' - a time when you would not have been fined £60 for dropping a broken clay pipe onto a public highway - TWICE a much as this artifact cost me to buy.Mind you, you could have been hanged for stealing a sheep, and public highways were haunted by men in masks with pistols, who would have been happy to relieve you of this item - or any others which glittered similarly under a lamp or candle.
Is it a keeper Tom? Or will is just pass through after a little visit to your place?
ReplyDeleteIt's sort of a keeper - it's joined the collection of good ones which (if I can bear to part with them) will be sold at auction in London in a while. Let's hope I don't have to sell them, but that is my justification for buying them!
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful candle holder. Can you imagine in the old days how it lit an area and who was the important person that got to hold and carry it from room to room. Very impressive.
ReplyDeleteHave a Tiggeriffic Day~! ta ta from Iowa:)
Does it have a much smaller hole (than a normal candle stick) at the top?
ReplyDeleteIn 1770 an ancestor of mine had just discovered Australia. Maybe it was on board his ship!!
Hello Tom:
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed very, very covetable. In the 'age of reason' we might well have relieved you of it on some lonely highway where you chanced to roam.
Hello to Iowa - it might have been Cro's important relation, carrying it around.
ReplyDeleteYes, these taper-sticks were made to hold thinner candles than ones used for lighting purposes, Cro. I didn't realise that your people used to own Australia.
Talking of Australia and reasonable punishment for highway misdemeanors, Jane Austen's aunt ) who lived about 200 yards from where I live now) was almost deported to Australia for a crime which she did not commit - namely: stealing a yard of silk ribbon from a shop in Abbey Green, Bath. Seems a little harsh to me, even if she did pinch the ribbon.
Thanks for the warning, Hatt's. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.
Do you polish these candlesticks Tom or are they best just buffed up with a soft cloth? I do hope you don't sell them all because your house must be creaking at the seams with the weight of them all. If only they could talk and you could hear their real history - fascinating stuff.
ReplyDelete...and ........another question..... do you have candles for all of them?
ReplyDeleteare they antique wax candles handmade by the monks of Skye perhaps?
I polish all but one, Weaver, which has not been cleaned more than about 3 times in it's 300 year old life. It still has traces of the original silvering, but is generally a blackish colour.
ReplyDeleteYou aren't far off, John. I ordered (at great expense) some pure beeswax candles for them a few months ago - made by a man who keeps his own bees - but seldom light them. I would never use the traditional cheaper, tallow candles - too much black smoke.
That's a very nice candlestick Tom. Did you really buy this for around £30? How much is it worth then?
ReplyDeleteIn our local newspaper this week is a report of a woman whose thrown cigarette butt has cost her almost £300 after not paying the fine and failing to attend court. Hope your other half has paid her fine!
Yes, I paid £30 for this stick, Eileen, and I expect to get around £200 back - one day. And yes, H.I. has paid her fine. The rest of my thoughts and today's further experiences with city marshals have been deleted - too much foul language.
ReplyDeleteNice one Tom; that would be a keeper for me also.
ReplyDelete