A Unique 19thC Blacksmith-Made Painted Wrought Iron Candlestick c.1890

Origin: British
Period: Late Victorian
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1890
Height: 14.5”
Base: 7” 

The characterful late Victorian blacksmith-made wrought iron candlestick, the sconce formed as a stylised flower head with petal-like rim, rising from a serpentine twisted stem adorned with simple forged foliage and terminating in a scrolling tripod base the whole later painted in a pale yellow, with traces of an earlier surface visible beneath, and the overall form retaining a strong hand-forged presence and surviving from the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

The detailing is sharp with surface wear throughout consistent with age and repainting; minor pitting and historic oxidation beneath the paint. It remains structurally solid and stable.

This type of rural blacksmith work sits firmly within the vernacular iron tradition; practical yet expressive. The twisting stem gives the impression of a living plant rising from the ground, while the simple flower-head sconce speaks to the enduring marriage of utility and symbolism in folk metalwork. No two are ever quite the same; each carries the hand of its maker and this is a unique one-off creation as such.

Honest, sculptural and atmospheric, this is a piece that brings shadow and movement to a room when lit and stands as an object of quiet strength when not.