Can you ever have enough candlesticks?

There is something rather comforting about candlelight.
Candlelight creates a warm glow and a sense of timelessness (and intimacy) that cannot always be achieved with electric light - despite its undoubted convenience.
The use of appropriate lampshades can go some way towards creating a similar ambience:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

But for my money there is nothing to beat the comfortable cosiness of a candlelit room and as Winter fast approaches our thoughts turn more and more to the use of candles to create that magical quality we love.

Which leads to the question: Can you ever have enough candlesticks?

This weekend we have begun to clean and spruce up our candlesticks in readiness now that summer is long gone.  I see that we have around twenty-two, not including tea light glasses and their ilk.  Twenty-two good honest dependable candlesticks.

To give some idea I decided to do a candlestick 'fashion shoot' (some with, and some without candles) to give you a sampling of our collection.

So, off we go then!

This pair of English Edwardian barley twist candlesticks, made of oak, have nice brass cups on top to hold the candle itself:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

This German 'Biedermeier' candlestick is made of tin:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

Very plain and somewhat simple; it does however have a rather nice scalloped lever for pushing the candle up.  This way the thrifty householder get maximum use out of said candle!

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

AGA tells me that this brass candlestick is also Biedermeier.  It is German and a little worse for wear around the rim although the Victorian brass candlewick trimmers resting on its base work perfectly!

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

These two handsome chaps are French bronze candlesticks from around the 1870s.

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

They have enameled, painted decorations around the base.

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

This tiny candlestick comes from a shop in Stockholm.  It was given to me as a present by a shopkeeper after we had bought one of his cartel clocks.  It is the sort of candlestick you carry to bed with you and then snuff out.  It isn't designed to hold a candle that is going to burn for too long. . .

This somewhat blurred Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

These four gentlemen are Edwardian barley twist candlesticks made in oak.  They have rather ornate brass cups for the candles to go in.  You will see that they are in fact two pairs.  One set has the twist going one way and the other set has it's twist going the opposite way.  I decided to set them up alternately for this photograph:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

This is an old Church candle.  I am told that it comes from France.  I like it with its brass lilies and 'fancy' acanthus leaf base:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

Meanwhile, Pope Pius XI enjoys sitting between these two brass candlesticks in the kitchen.  They are English and my father's family at one time had a hand in making them, at their brassfoundry.  Originally these formed a set of pairs ranging from extra large down to very small.  They were very popular in the late Victorian era. 

My grandparents had the entire set but most were lost when their house was destroyed during bombing in WWII.  Only two pairs were able to be salvaged: The really large one and the next one down.  One still carries its bomb dent with pride!  I occasionally come across other sizes in our travels and here are two that I found at a fairly reasonable price on the Portobello Road.  An old antique dealer asked me if I had the 'rare' Queen of Diamonds' candlestick made for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.  I couldn't remember if that was one that we had a home.  The next time we were back in Melbourne I looked - but alas it wasn't.  These two make their appearance at dinner time, when they come into their own but for this photograph they are sitting peaceably with the Pope and a duck.

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

Moving right along:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

This large one, newly made - which at the moment has a rather ugly looking purple candle in it from last year's Advent Wreath - is a beauty!  I don't like those candles that have a 'plasticy' non-melting cover around them.  I shan't buy those any more. We bought the candlestick while in London because it had such wonderful looking feet!

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

This is a little Swedish wooden candle 'holder'.  You can't light those for too long or the whole thing would catch fire!

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

AGA took this photograph for you.  It shows one of his prize French bouillotte lamps.  Most bouillotte lamps these days have been converted to electricity but this one can still hold candles:

This Photograph was  taken by AGA!

And I know these are not, strictly speaking, Candle Sticks but they fulfill the same function.  In Germany (where these two Pewter ones come from) I believe that they are called 'Blakker'.

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

They reflect quite a nice light in the evening:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

Looking for a book by candlelight lends a magical, mysterious air to an otherwise ordinary activity...

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

Do you use candlesticks at home?