Age of this hogscraper candlestick?

[frogpatch]

Here is the link to the one someone was selling. The drip pan is rectangular but the construction looks similar. Someone polished this one. Don't do that.
http://www.antiques.com/classified/13110/LARGE-ANTIQUE-BRASS-PUSH-UP-CHAMBER-CANDLESTICK

[frogpatch]

Here is mine.

[Bradley]

Very nice. Too late about the "don't polish" advice, I'm afraid. But then, I am not collecting to re-sell. (I'll just take something else to a Goodwill store until my apartment makes its transition to a full-blown living museum. LOL.) I am a tour guide in the Historic District of Savannah and I love my work. I collect these old items for the PRIVILEGE (caps, because I really mean it) of holding history in my hands. Additionally, there is the thrill of the treasure hunt in the consignment shops that I frequent, though I obviously get fooled once in a while, if the consensus on the first one I posted here is spot on.

The one you posted that is selling for $125 has some differences, of course, but the similarities are pretty interesting. The shaft on the one for sale leans slightly toward the handle, as does mine, and the elevator knobs face the same direction -- to the right of the handle/ring. Even the metal washer on the bottom appears to be the same size in each.
 
Thanks again!

[mart]

No clear coat on that 2nd one !!  Very nice !! 

[Bradley]

Thanks. Still laughing about the fact that the one I thought was tinny and cheap turns out to be the genuine article while the heavy, cumbersome one is (GASP!) "repro."

[frogpatch]

I like the passion you display for what you do. I hope to visit Savannah one day. I am a big supporter of Goodwill and other thrift stores myself along with my wife. I do get a good buy once in a while in the stores but people probably get better buys from what I donate. I do better at flea markets and yard sales here in NJ. The candlestick that I found was actually at a church rummage sale in Clearwater Florida. I thought nothing much of it until I started delving.

[Bradley]

It's a wonderful city, and if you are history buff you will especially like it. I go to Goodwill with the things I that I do not need and that are still useful. I do my antique hunting at local antique/consignment shops because of the potential for great finds at bargain prices but I have only been doing for about a year and half, so I have a lot to learn.

I get lucky once in a while. Here is another one of my $5 finds, before and after polishing. I bought this copper plate (about 9 inches across) with the intention of eating from it, which is why I cleaned it. But when I removed the patina, it was so beautiful I couldn't bear to do that. I actually screamed the f-bomb in that shop when I saw the price tag. As in "Only $5? Are you f--king serious???" The cashier laughed and said "I didn't think you could turn that down."

[frogpatch]

Save your polishing urge for silver. Lock up copper polish.

[cogar]

........... except other views show that it is quite thick walled and the top flange is very thick. This leads me to believe that the vertical column is a casting.

Thick walled items are usually always "cast brass".

And the handle on the pictured one is cast brass.

So, iffen you are pouring "brass", .... pour all the parts at the same time.

In actuality, "antique" brass casting items were "cheap" to produce compared to 20th and 21st Century brass casting items.

There was an abundance of "mold making" experts in the 19th Century because most everything was made via pouring melted iron into "cast iron" molds.  

[Bradley]

I would NEVER have guessed that the better made candlestick would be the newer one, though I still like the older one for its history. I suppose I believed a bit too much in that cliché "They don't make 'em like they used to" which is usually applied to mean that the older stuff was of a higher quality. In many cases this is true, or those older items would not still be around and still useful. I am not saying that is always the case! I wouldn't want to fly around the world in an antique airplane, but I would certainly rather have a sturdy old Empire Revival desk (if I could afford it) on which to sit my computer than any desk I could find at Target or Walmart.

[mart]

Don`t know where you are located but Empire Revival is relatively cheap in most areas !!

[KC]

Isn't this forum interesting Bradley?  That is what I love about it - always something new to learn from the collective of people's experiences/expertises and OF COURSE, the school of hard knocks acquired perspectives!

[Bradley]

It certainly is. It's more entertaining and informative than most television too. lol

[talesofthesevenseas]

I'm chiming in late here. I have three of these. What you have is called a chamberstick. Hogscrapers don't have a pan. Yours looks quite old, I've got two similar and one has a patent date of 1853 on it. I think the camera flash is making the metal look newer than it is in real life. Here are a couple of helpful articles. See the info about dating the piece by the nut on the underside.
http://bluedogantiques.blogspot.com/2010/01/hog-scraper-candlesticks.html
http://www.peggymcclard.com/aab%20Lighting%20Hogscraper%20Bill%204469.htm

[Bradley]

Thanks for chiming in. I presume you are saying the shorter one appears oldest?  The top one (with ring) is just over 4 inches tall. Bottom one (with pen, for scale) is just over 8 inches