Age of this processional dual candle holder?

[Bradley]

Curious as to why this was made and when? I go for the odd-ball stuff in my hunts, and I have not personally seen another like this one in the shops. Online, I have looked over more than a hundred (literally) entries on Google, Bing, Ebay, Etsy and Rubylane  and have not found even half a dozen photos of an item like this that were not repeated on other sites. (In other words, the same person posting the precise same item on Ebay and Rubylane for example, right down to individual dents and scratches.) What few photos there are generally come up when I used search phrases as: hanging processional candle holder. One similar listing  on Rubylane speculates that it might have been used in a wedding procession, held by someone who was leading the bride and groom down the aisle

The ring at the top leads me to guess that it was meant to be hung. The wooden grip seems to wrap around the metal shaft -- no seams to indicate it was glued in two pieces. But the bulb sticking out of the bottom is metal too. Unsure if  it was connected to the rest of the shaft OR the wooden grip was fastened on to the blunt end of the shaft and the bottom cap was applied to the grip afterward.

Dimensions: Height is just under 22 inches, width is 11 inches from one candle sconce to another.

[Bradley]

If you are stumped, don't feel badly.  I have shopped it around several places online and no one else seems to know when it was made or precisely why either. I feel lucky to have found it because I have not personally had my hands on another one even remotely similar to it. It is still probably not valuable in terms of dollars (just because it is rare does not mean its resell value is high), but I like the looks of it and it looks great hanging in front of the Scottish Lion Rampant flag that friends in Edinburgh, Scotland sent me for my birthday last year.

I have an eye for the odd-ball stuff. I gravitate to it like iron shavings to a magnet.

[mart]

Here is the thing about this one !! If it hangs flat against a wall,, the candles would be very close to the wall as well !! Would almost have to have a metal hanger and to me that screams early 60`s gothic  !!   Or could be a ceremonial piece !!  For what,,I have no clue !!

[Bradley]

Interesting. I am looking up 60s Gothic now. To me it looks like a wedding processional candleholder. Whatever it is, there are not more than two others on all of the internet, though I realize that does NOT make it old or valuable to anyone esle.

Just took some extreme closeups. That "barrel" where the bars join seems to have been welded, soldered, or brazed onto the shafts. Done as reinforcement, I guess. The patina is so heavy it almost resembles rust. But this is not iron or steel. (Magnets don't stick to it.) Probably copper or brass.Anyway, it is a nice oddball piece -- and damn near one of a kind! -- even if it is not very old. I like it.

[KC]

Sorry I can't help on this.  But it would sell well for all the Pinterest people out there that like a unique item.

[Bradley]

No worries.  But I am not planning to sell -- at least not until such time as I find another "treasure" that just blows me away and makes this look boring. Every time I bring something in, I try to take something out, usually to Goodwill.

I just got a reply to a posting on an FB antiques site. Here is what they (two people) had to say:

"they are meant to be carried from room to room and hung from the ceiling like in an old tavern or hotel for over head light like over a table. Processionals have ornate tops and get placed in a stand , I believe, not hung" Then another person chimed in saying he saw a listing for one quite similar, claiming that it was "turn of the century"

It would be really, really interesting to think that I have a hundred-year-old tavern chandelier, wouldn't it???

As always, many thanks!

[cogar]

It would be really, really interesting to think that I have a hundred-year-old tavern chandelier, wouldn't it???

If an original I would think some what older than 100 because kerosene became the "light" of choice post-1850's.

[mart]

Mmmm,,, That is a plausible theory but when kerosene lamps were the norm,, why use candles ??   Unless just for the ambiance !!  That handle almost looks like a galvanized metal !!

[sugarcube5419]

grew up in catholic schools/church-I saw this earlier and it reminded me of what the "alter boys" would carry down the aisle at church in front of the priest, but you said there are no others so it wouldn't be the same?

[Bradley]

Really like the diversity of opinions here. Mart, the handle "grip" is absolutely wood, for whatever that is worth. My cell phone photos do not always do an item justice. And I think Cogar was referring to the norm before kerosene lamps became common.

Sugarcube, you address my most perplexing, frustrating question: "WHERE THE HECK ARE ALL THE INTERNET PHOTOS???" I am pretty certain that my candleholder is NOT a valuable treasure, but after all the hours of internet searches and photos I have been looking at, I am beginning think that there are more first-run copies of the Declaration of Independence floating around than there are of copies of this candleholder. Only slightly joking about the Declaration reference. Not joking at all about the internet search.

I have found only two other photos of an identical item posted on the internet. One person/seller is on ebay and the other is on Rubylane.  I have contacted the ebay seller and here is what they said "I'm sorry, I don't know any more about this item than the information we discovered and included in our listing. Our items come from estate sales, auctions, consignments, and thrift stores. Most of the time we have little or no history on an item. I wish I could help" The Rubylane seller seemed confident that it might have been used in a wedding ceremony, but they were unsure of age as well.

And that brings me back to that frustrating question I posted in ALL CAPS above. You'd think that for such a commonly-used item (whether a tavern light or an Wedding, Mass, church service implement) that there would be more photos.

Any other tips will be gladly received.

[KC]

sugarcube5419, my first impression was that it was a Processional Candle Holder as well - having seen them used at church ceremonies in the past.  But the only ones I see of new have glass surrounding them.

[Bradley]

For whatever it may help in the assessment, a couple of more photos and some small details: You can see that the vertical shaft is hollow and that the ring connects to a fitting on that shaft. In other words, the shaft does not hang/swing from the ring. The ring is fastened in place to the fitting and does not go all the way through it. Also, the ring is at an angle about 20 degrees off from vertical.

I also agree that modern processional candleholders do not even remotely resemble this one. Granted, "processional candle holder" is what gets one like mine to come up in a search, but even the people posting those photos (what few there are) admit that they are merely guessing.

[mart]

Well,, if that handle is wood,, either you need a new camera or I need a new computer !! 

[Bradley]

Maybe you need a new computer, Mart. We are talking about the part that my thumb is touching in this photo, right? That's wood. If you look closely,  you can even see a couple of places where I nicked and scratched the wood with my thumb nail.

[mart]

Yes !!  That pic I can see some of the grain of the wood but the top pic looks the same gray nasty color as a piece of old galvanized pipe !!  I have a couple of pieces of that pipe in the garage and went there to look and make sure thats the color I was seeing !!  Usually this old computer is spot on with wood tones/colors !!   You know,, nothing about this candleholder looks old yet I get the feeling it is supposed to ,,I wonder if it could have been made for an historical reinactment of some sort !! Or even a Lodge ceremony of some type !!