Chats on Old Copper and Brass

by Fred. W. Burgess

Candles and Candlesticks.

Many are the legends and stories of the days when the flickering light of a candle threw shadows across the ceiling and partly lighted and partly obscured the table and floor. Ghostly, too, they seemed as the embers of the fire died on the hearth. The provision of artificial light for use during the long winter evenings has always been one of the domestic cares, and the women of the household were in early days mindful of the coming winter during the summer and autumn months. Among their domestic duties was that of gathering and drying rushes and dipping them in fat. The primitive rushlights gave an uncertain glimmer, and the moulding of candles with cotton wicks would be welcomed as an advance. Candles were home-made until comparatively modern times, and the candle mould was an essential in every household. It was frequently of brass, and varied in size and in the number of moulds, the one shown in Fig. 46 having only two tubes. While the custom of making candles at home continued long in country districts, in towns candle-making became a trade, and, as was the custom in those days, the moulders of candles assembled together in certain well-known thoroughfares. In London, Candlewick Street, the name of which has since been corrupted into Cannon Street, was their rendezvous.

The store of candles for immediate use was kept close at hand in the candle box, placed against the wall in some convenient position. The boxes were of wood and japanned tin; others were of brass, some being very ornamental and covered over with engravings. Such candle boxes are to be found in the curio shops; several fine examples may frequently be seen near St. James's Park Station in London, where there are several curio dealers who specialize on old copper and brass, the neighbourhood being quite a happy hunting ground for the collector of metal.

FIG. 48.—CANDELABRUM OF EARLY TYPE (CENTRAL FIGURE), AND TWO OIL LAMPS.
(In Washington Museum.)

The evolution of the candlestick was slow at first. The old rushlight-holders were made by the country smith, and very clumsy they were on their heavy wooden stands. The first idea seems to have been to stick the candle on a spike, oftentimes such spikes being placed conveniently on the wall. Then came the "sticks" on stands which could be moved about the room, in some cases with a sliding holder, the height of which could be regulated. Gradually, however, the candlestick for table use and the candlestick with the dished base, which became common as the type of the chamber candlestick, came into being. With the progress made and the general acceptance of the two types, the pillar candlestick and the chamber candlestick, the artist in metal began to turn his attention to perfecting their forms and decorating them.

Many remarkable candlesticks in bronze are met with among ecclesiastical brasses, some of which are referred to in [Chapter VII]. Of the domestic candlesticks there are many early examples, some with beautifully twisted columns and later fluted examples. The pricket candlestick—that is, a candlestick with a spike on which a candle was firmly placed—eventually gave way to the more convenient socket, and a flange at the top of the column held any candle grease which might run down the sides of the candle. The pricket candlesticks of early twelfth-century make illustrated in Fig. 47 may be referred to as examples of the pricket form, their chief attractions being found in the richly enamelled decoration. In Fig. 48 we are able to illustrate a very interesting candelabrum now in the National Museum at Washington City. It is made up literally of two candlesticks attached to a very simple pillar bracket on which they slide up and down, the addition of a metal reflector suggesting later developments in candlesticks and lamps. In the later days both brass and silver candlesticks, especially the tall lights used on mantelpiece or on sideboard, were ornamented in keeping with the plate of the period, and were eventually classed among the more decorative appointments of the home.

When candles were made of tallow the wicks burned black and charred and a constant snuffing was necessary. This brought about the use of snuffers of polished steel and of brass, and a little later of snuffer trays, the snuffers and their accompanying trays forming a most interesting addition to the collection of metal. Candlesticks are still used, but the candles are of superior quality and burn steady and bright. Some are very decorative, too, especially the painted candlesticks which with their ornamental shades are attached to pianos, and are used as wall lights or as additional lights upon the table. The days of brass candlesticks, snuffers, and trays have, however, long been numbered, and most of these relics of old-world lights have passed into the region of curios. Here and there they may be seen in their once accustomed place, but more as ornament than for actual use. In a well-known hotel, at one time an old coaching house famous for its copper and brass wares, the candlesticks in those early days a necessity are now placed in pairs on the bedroom mantelpieces as mementoes of the past. They are not intended for use, for the electric switch is at hand, and the newer light has taken the place of the wax candle (see [Fig. 49]).

FIG. 49.—GROUP OF RARE CANDLESTICKS, ALMS-DISH, AND EWERS.
(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)

The lines which some years ago were printed in connection with a concert given in aid of the Glasgow Candlemakers and Tallow workers are appropriate:

"The light of other days is faded,

The reign of tallow's past;

Magnesium and the limelight

Have vanquished 'dips' at last.

And the old lamplighter, too,

Must shortly disappear,

Making way for electric light,

With its garish flash so 'queer.'"