Bright Collectors Enjoy Vintage Candlesticks
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Candlesticks are perfect collectibles to enjoy as daylight sneaks away earlier every day and darkness begins at dinnertime. Candlesticks on the table shouldn't be reserved for special moments. These utilitarian antiques warm up the table and relax dinner guests, even if they are just the kids!
If you collect these useful treasures, you'll find that an assortment of candlesticks makes a great theme for a display on a mantel or in a china closet. Antique or simply unique, candlesticks are eye-catching.
Candlesticks are easy to find at garage sales, antique shops and vintage emporiums, so there are plenty to enjoy.
Today's candle craze includes luxury brands of scented wax candles like Thyme and Diptyque that come in disposable glass holders. These candles cost $30 or more each time you buy them. Though they smell great, these are an expensive habit compared to reusable candlesticks!
Old school candlesticks with tapers are a great alternative to these trendy versions and less costly. Reusable candlesticks are also a "green" choice, friendly to the environment, since you don't have to dispose of glass jars.
Mix-and-match candlesticks are a fun look and add an individualized style to the candle craze. Candlesticks can be found in all sizes, colors and materials. Ceramic, brass, silver, wood, glass, iron, pewter and gold are just a few of the choices.
Candleholders can be elaborate, such as crystal candelabras with prisms dangling, or they can be simple, like a single candle on a carved wooden base. Fiesta collectors have interesting choices, too, with the bulb candleholders and pyramid versions, both highly collectible to fans of Homer Laughlin ware.
Collectors often seek candlesticks in one color of glass, like milk glass, or from one era, such as the 19th century or depression-era glass. Some collectors seek only a specific design, like chamber sticks, which have handles and were meant to carry from the parlor to the bedroom.
Candles have a specific jargon associated with them. The bottom is the base and the center part is the column or shaft; the top of the column is the socket where the candle fits or, a pricket (a sharp point on old examples) and the wide part around the socket or pricket is called the bobeche (which keeps the candle wax from dripping down onto the candlestick).
Some candlesticks have a built-in bobeche and others have removable ones for ease in cleaning. You can buy a new or old bobeche, too, since they are helpful with wax cleanup.
Another accessory for candle users is the snuffer. I have one in brass that's an angel shape and I use it to quickly kill the flame after dining is done. A snuffer is advantageous because the wax doesn't spray across the linens at the table.
There is also the wick-cutting snuffer, a very collectible scissor-like device in silver, plate or brass, usually found with a small tray. I need to get one of these, since they provide a practical way of keeping a wick trimmed to avoid smoke and soot.
If you don't own a set of candlesticks yet, take a trip to your favorite antique shop, where you're sure to find a selection of vintage candlesticks in all price ranges. They are the perfect gift, too!
For comments or suggestions on local treasures to be featured in Antique of the Week, Maureen Zambito can be reached via email at zambitomaureen@hotmail.com or by writing in care of this newspaper.