Candlesticks

Silver candlesticks, chambersticks and some brass and treen examples for good measure.

English sterling silver candlesticks are known from the late 16th century although very few survive. Many were bequeathed and subsequently used to settle estate duties and were melted down by Excise and Inland Revenue officers who maintained their own crucibles. This will have then been returned to circulation as coinage.

Georgian silver candlesticks have been heirlooms for generations, their elegance and style is still being replicated today and they remain the most desirable of all antique silver candlesticks. A pair of 18th century antique candlesticks will adorn any mantel or dining table. Antique sterling silver candlesticks cannot be judged by their total weight alone, troy ounces by themselves will not convey the weight of the "loading" used to give them their stability. The stepped bases and square bases on a beautiful pair of Georgian, a pair of Victorian and Edwardian sterling silver candlesticks were filled with molten lead or resin.

Candlesticks have also been subjected to alteration and modification over the years. Gadrooned borders were added to the feet, drip pans were altered. A good quality pair of candlesticks in unaltered good condition will always have the same makers marks on the stick and drip pan or detachable sconce.

Silver chambersticks used for lighting the way to ones bed chamber should also have a snuffer whose marks are the same as those on the drip pan. These decorative silver items are most useful during the inevitable power cuts every time there is an electric storm. Functional and beautiful, William Morris would approve.