A George III Wrought Iron Candle Pricket Stand c.1800

Period: George III
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1800
Height: 24”
Base Diameter: 11” 

The unusual and wonderfully primitive wrought iron candle pricket of large form, dating from the turn of the eighteenth century, the whole constructed around a tall square-section iron stem rising from a broad, shallow dished metal base, supported beneath on tri-form hand-wrought feet, to a second smaller drip pan surmounted by a substantial central spike or pricket for securing a candle, enclosed by an open ironwork circular guard to a small projecting hook to the stem for a snuffer, wick trimmer or other implement and surviving in original order.

In good untouched country-house condition, with considerable oxidation, pitting, old wax deposits and surface wear throughout. The large lower dish retains particularly attractive verdegris, while the ironwork has developed a wonderfully dark and crusty patination. There are minor distortions and irregularities consistent with age, manufacture and prolonged use. We have deliberately left the piece entirely as found.

Pricket candlesticks are amongst the earliest forms of candle support, the candle being impaled directly upon an iron spike rather than placed within a socket. Floor-standing examples provided a practical source of elevated light and were produced by local smiths in numerous regional forms. This example is particularly interesting for its combination of a substantial lower tray, elevated candle platform and protective circular framework, giving it an unusually sculptural and almost architectural appearance. Its straightforward construction and irregular hand-worked ironwork suggest a utilitarian object rather than a formally manufactured domestic fitting.

A wonderfully atmospheric survivor whose appeal lies as much in its remarkable surface as its original function. Tall, spare and rather eccentric in profile, the combination of blackened wrought iron, remnants of blue-green paint and centuries of oxidation gives the piece tremendous decorative presence making it an excellent example of vernacular lighting which now also reads as a piece of primitive sculpture.