Candlesticks A Part Of Many Collections

There are many ways to decorate for Christmas, and candles are a featured item in many holiday home displays. Beautiful candlesticks with glowing candles add to any festive look. In America, we’ve come a long way from the time in which candles were utilitarian, rather than decorative.

In one of Shakespeare’s plays, the character Rosalind says, “Without candle may go dark to bed.” And for many centuries, this was the case. Without a candle, one would indeed go “dark to bed” and just as dark everywhere else around the house. Candles were essential items in a household, and equally essential were the candlesticks to hold them.

Candlesticks were made in such vast numbers and varieties that they are one of the most common found relics of previous centuries. Hundreds were needed to light the great mansions.
An inventory of the possessions of Queen Elizabeth I indicated she possessed 148 candlesticks (although this probably doesn’t sound like too impressive a number to a candlestick collector of today.)

More impressive is how they were made. Henry VI of England supposedly had a pair of gold candlesticks set with four sapphires, four rubies, four emeralds and twenty four pearls. Now that would be an addition to any collection!

The earliest English candlesticks used by the upper classes were generally made in pewter or earthenware but gradually, in England as in other countries, they came to be made in bronze, iron, silver, porcelain and a variety of other materials.

For the common folk, the first candlesticks were simply blocks of wood holding an iron spike on which the candle was impaled. These, known as prickets, survived in rural areas into the early 19th century.

As the pricket disappeared, it was most commonly replaced with a brass candlestick, which was both cheap and durable. Dating of early ones is aided by the method of manufacture. Until the late 17th century, the stem and socket were cast in one piece and attached to the base by means of a screw thread. By about 1670, however, a new method had been adopted - the stem and socket were hollow cast in two pieces and then brazed together. by the 19th century, there was a return to solid casting in one piece.

For desk use, dwarf candlesticks, known as taper sticks were popular for 100 years, beginning in the late 17th century. Bracket candlesticks for attachment to desks and pianos were available. A library candlestick had a reflector to increase the illumination and to shield the eyes from glare.

One type of candlestick which lasted well into the age of oil lamps and gas was the chamber type, which was convenient when heading for bed. These were small with saucer-shaped bases and looped handles.

Chandeliers and candelabra were larger varieties of candlesticks.

The candelabrum was a free-standing, branched candlestick for several candles.

The chandelier was a large, branched candlestick suspended from the ceiling. It could be lowered by chains or ropes - a favorite in the old swashbuckling films, where the hero, with sword in teeth, and chandelier firmly grasped, would swing over the heads of the enemy below.

Candlesticks continued to be made by the thousands throughout the 20th century. While many were made of metal or pottery, the majority of those in the last 100 years were made of glass, and these are the ones that appeal to many collectors today. By the middle of the 20th century, their use was almost exclusively decorative, (although they still came in handy when a power failure occurred.)

Well known companies such as Fostoria, Heisey, Westmoreland, New Martinsville and many others provided an unending variety in crystal and colored glass. Most of these companies are now out of business, although the Fenton Art Glass Company, Hocking, Indiana and L.E. Smith continue to make lovely candlesticks in glass today.

An excellent series of reference books by Sherry Riggs & Paula Pendergrass has been published by Schiffer Publishing covering the glass candlesticks of the 20th century: Glass Candleholders - Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Depression Era, Modern; Elegant Glass Candle Holders; and 20th Century Glass Candleholders: Roaring 20s, Depression Era, & Modern Collectible Candle Holders.

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With a plentiful stock of candles and candlesticks, whether made of elegant silver or a nail in a piece of wood, one need never worry about going “dark to bed.” And placed on a mantel or table, they can certainly add to the holiday spirit.

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The Presses Were Busy With Christmas Scraps

The invention of the printing process called chromolithography, midway through the 19th century, had a strong influence on the way Christmas trees were decorated.

The beautiful, full-color pictures produced by chromolithography were immensely popular. Every Christmas season, new and elaborate pieces appeared on the market.

Chromolithographs were collected by thousands of people and pasted into scrapbooks. This type of collection resulted in the term “scraps,” and this is the term in common use today for these colorful creations.

The process was invented in England. However, Germany quickly became the leader in chromolithography and most of the scraps sold in Europe and America came from there. They remained a popular item until the 1920s.

The first scraps were flat and square. Later in the 1800s, however, machines were developed that could emboss the pictures and cut them in detailed patterns. The scraps became a mass-produced item that was affordable to almost everyone.

Even though scraps were produced by the millions, the actual printing process was a complex one. Sometimes as many as 20 colors were used and each had to be printed separately. The embossing, which followed the printing, gave the scrap a 3-dimensional look, with raised and depressed areas. Finally, the cutting dies trimmed away the excess paper, leaving the scrap in an outline or silhouette form.

Individual scraps were often left together in large sheets, or swags, connected by tabs and sold in this way. These thin connecting strips contained the manufacturer’s name, country and the item order number.

Favorite subjects were Santas (German-style,) Nativity scenes, angels, snowmen, children, cherubs and Christmas trees.

Scraps were sometimes used alone on the tree. These were wired or glued into a tinsel ring, or sometimes a wire was pushed through to form a loop (which often damaged the ornament.) Most frequently, the tinsel was firmly attached to a cardboard backing in the desired shape and the scrap glued to this.

Many times, the scraps were combined with something else. For instance, angels, children or Santas were glued on to balloons and sailboats as riders. Cardboard candy containers were covered with scraps before filling. Scraps were pressed into cookie dough or stuck on with frosting. And some were combined to form the lovely 3-dimensional silver and gold foil

Dresden ornaments popular at the same time.
There were also half-scraps. They were just that - half figures, designed to be completed with some other material. Some of the simplest ones attached scrap faces, along with hands and feet, to cotton batting ornaments. More elaborate blown glass or crepe paper angels had scrap faces. The face of a girl was designed to be completed with a cookie skirt.

The size range was immense. Some were as small as 1/2 inch. A few were as large as three feet. These latter were such pieces as stand-up Santas found in stores.

Scraps are being produced again today. In general, the older ones were printed on thicker paper and more deeply embossed. The maker’s name will be on the connecting tab (ladder) and not on the print itself. The original chromolithography process also produced richer colors than are printed by today’s offset presses.
 

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