Pair of antique brass spring loaded hurricane candlesticks with grapevine etched glass shades with blue rim & cut glass prism lustre droppers 53 cm H

A beautiful pair of antique brass hurricane candlesticks, candle holders, storm lights, storm lanterns or hurricane lamps, some collectors may refer to these as antique banquet lamps with storm shades. They date from the last half of the 19th century circa 1870, during the reign of Queen Victoria.

These brass candlesticks have each been made with weighted tapering stepped conical bases. The plain stem columns have applied decorative band in the middle. The top of each column has a larger diameter lipped rim shade holder which is pierced at the bottom with a ring of holes to allow a flow of air to the candle to aid combustion. The everted stepped lipped rim has five equally spaced small holes drilled from which the cut glass prismatic lustres hang. These prismatic lustres are offset tapered lozenge shapes with facets hanging from a round cut diamond shape, they pierced and are fastened with brass wires, some of which appear to have been replaced.

The bottoms of the inverted bell shaped glass shades are bonded to a tapered brass socket that inserts into the shade holders. The shades are hand made and blown, one is slightly shorter then the other. They both have an etched grapevine pattern around the middle and an applied blue glass border around the rim to decorate and strengthen them. There are tooling marks and minor inclusions in the glass.

The long tubular columns hide a secret, they have internal springs that hold the top of the candle up to the retaining cap at the top, thus the light is at a constant height, as the candle burns and melts the bottom of the candle is pushed further up by the spring. The top cap on one can be removed and the candle inserted as shown in one of the images. There is a removable cap to the bottom of each to clean or change the spring. We think that these candlesticks are probably Russian in origin as we have seen some similar ones where the bottom cap is marked Gordeev Brothers Moscow in Cyrillic characters and another pair also marked Mockba. It is possible of course that this marking could be from a retailer as these particular candle caps are unmarked.

These beautiful antique candlesticks are in excellent antique and usable condition with the usual very minor marks and signs of use. One internal spring is a replacement and the top cap has been soldered into place, so the candle has to be inserted from the bottom.  Please see the images. Each candlestick measures 4 inches diameter (12 cm) at the base  and 13 inches (22.8 cm) tall, the nozzle will take a 7/8 inch (2.1 cm) diameter candlestick. The overall height with the shade in place is 20 3/4 inches (53 cm). The shades have a rim diameter of 6 1/4 inches (16 cm) .The complete candlesticks set weighs 2.767 kg unpacked.

They would make a great addition to any dinner table, mantelpiece or side table. A tremendous pair of antique Continental European brass candlesticks dating from the mid-Victorian period circa 1870.

Free UK delivery included, international postage at cost.