Help value era and value of candelabra

[sjm79]

bought these in the mid 80's at an estate sale in NY. They were found buried in the back yard of a farm, no markings. I think they are pewter but not sure. Anyone have any idea's?

[hosman321]

I love these, they are beautiful! They look victorian to me, late 1800's-early 1900's. But they could be older or newer and it will be hard to accurately date them if they don't have any markings. Do they have any? Sometimes markings can be very tiny, and you might need to find a little magnifying glass and go over every nook and cranny very well. By the way, welcome to the forum.

[sjm79]

thanks for the reply, and welcome No, unfortunately I have looked these over many times in fine detail and can't find a trace of any type of marking. The other thing I forgot to mention in first post, is that they come apart.. all individual pieces. What makes me think they are a bit older than early 1900's was the fact that they were buried.. but who knows.

[mart]

Are they corroded ?? Second pic looks like they are.  They did make some of these even into the 1900`s that unscrewed into smaller pieces. What area do you live in ?? During the Civil War many people buried their valuables if they feared being raided !! 

[sjm79]

They came from NY (that's where they were found buried)

I think they are a bit corroded, yes.

[mart]

You might use a bit of silver polish on a small place on the bottom to see if they are silver !! Were they just in the dirt or in a container of some sort. Of course they may have been wrapped in cloth that eventually rotted !!

[sjm79]

They were wrapped in what looked like multiple pairs of sheets. I'm almost sure they are pewter but I will do a silver polish test

[hosman321]

What an awesome story they have! I imagine someone burying them in a hurry, carefully wrapping them so they wouldn't get damaged. I wonder what happened and why the owner didn't retrieve them...

[waywardangler]

Maybe they were stolen and the thief buried them in the sheet he hauled them away in. Just another scenario to consider.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Wow, very cool. Love the history and the mystery of them. I am betting they are hallmarked but are so tarnished/corroded that the hallmark is covered over.

If these were mine (and I sure wish they were!) I would take them to an antiques dealer or appraiser, maybe a pawn shop, that would be willing to identify the material they are made of for you, without cleaning them. Once you know what they are made of, then research if they should be cleaned or not. The corrosion could add to their value/character, or it could be destroying them. I think you're going to need a hands-on identification of the material.

What ever they are made of, they are a fabulous find! How exciting it must have been to pull these out of the ground!

[cogar]

And people buried their "treasured" objects in periods of troubled times ...... and NY State has a long history of "troubled times".

If you have any parts or pieces of "the sheets" they were wrapped in ..... they could be a key to the "time" they were buried.

[sapphire]

Am I seeing a gold colored piece at what is likely a join? About 1/3 of the way down from the top?

In the third pic, is it just the lighting or have they been cleaned up since the first two shots?