CANDLE HOLDER

An incomplete copper alloy Late-Medieval to Post Medieval candlestick, dating to c.AD 1475-1600. The surviving section comprises of the stick and socket for the candle, with the base, probably seperatley made, missing.

Both the stick and socket are circular in cross section, with the stick having a central raised collar, 16.1mm. At the top the stick flares outwards, thickening from 12.7mm to 19.6mm, from where the socket continues to expand at a roughly even diameter bwfore terminating in the circular socket mouth, 20.0mm in diameter. The socket is decorated by two pairs of circumferencial lines, one at the mid point, the other slightly below the rim. Externally, the section of the socket which is even in thickness is 24.3mm long, whilst the socket itself is 26.2mm deep extending into the stick and with the base slightly filled by copper alloy corrosion.

At the base of the stick it flares outwards from 12.1mm to 18.3mm in diameter, with this preceded by a very slight raised collar. Below this flared section the thickness is stepped and narrows to 12.7mm in diameter, creating a short, projecting circular shaft. This is also hollow, and contains a corroded iron, presumably the means by which the stick was originally affixed to the base.

Overall dimensions: length 110.2mm; maximum diameter 20.0mm; weight 76.04g.

Brownsword (1985, no. 7) illustrates a similar candlestick which he dates to the late 15th or early 16th centuries. Further, extremely similar candlesticks can be seen recorded on this database, see for example: SOM-619B4B, BUC-5F375F and SOM-581B96 amongst others. A further parallel is published by Egan (2005).