Brass candlesticks

When I read the post left by @petrichor I lifted my eyes to the heaven, well, not quite that high; but to the top of a tall bookcase whereupon sat two brass
candlesticks.







I can vouch for these having their origin in either Russia or Poland, my maternal grandmother was Russian, and my three of my paternal grandparent Polish. My father was born in 1902 when his mother was 18 years of age and she had document from Minsk in Belarus.

Back to the candlesticks. This pair is 1.5” taller that those of Petrichor’s and are less than half the weight. There appears to be a moveable rod at the bottom end (now firmly stuck) that I presume at one time would have pushed the unspent end of the candle: Is the correct?



One of them is broken at a joint and been mended externally with using solder, and internally with bone glue or possibly gutta percha.




Such a pity I could not communicate with my maternal grandfather who came to live with us when I was about six or seven, until he died a short few years later. He didn’t speak any English, just Yiddish, as far as I know.



He left us a lovely Portuguese Majolica snake plate made by Jose A Cunha by which to remember him.

This is just a general chat. No real questions.

 

Nice chat though.

 

The snake piece is called Palissy ware, and actual animals may have been used for the molds.

 

That Majolica piece is stunning.There's a fine video by the V&A that talks about the Palissy technique.The animals were carefully euthanized so as to retain their natural poses,molded,cast and then applied.Great Bugs @kyratango on these pieces !

 

It was after a visit to the V&A, when I was a teenager, and saw the Palissy plate and one by somebody else, that I realised ours wasn't a load of Portuguese junk and learned to love it. But now you've brought my 'Compassion in World Farming' ethics on. I shall visit the website and watch it.

 

Bugs? Bugs! BUUUUGSSS!!!
I wonder what critter is the colorful annealed one on the left with eyes

 

I first thought it was a shell, but you're right, it has eyes. Miss Piggy eyes.

 

A worm of some sort?

 

Bugs eyes looking sorry for themselves because he'd been euthanised so he could be cast for a leading role on a Palissy plate.

 

I really like your Pallisy plate. I’m afraid I disagree with most of your beliefs about your candlesticks, however. These are almost certainly made in England, not Russia or Poland. And they are NOT 18th century but mid 19th century at the very earliest, more likely late 19th to early 20th. So probably bought new by your relatives.

These were made in this design in HUGE quantities in Birmingham, England in the late Victorian and Edwardian times and exported all over the world (including US and Russia). Look for beehive candlesticks and you’ll see hundreds.

 

The Missy Piggy Eyes is Alice's Caterpillar without his hookah.

 

Some caterpillars have fake eyes like the spicebush swallowtail. Cute isn't it?

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/spicebush_swallowtail.htm

 

Thank you for that. It fits in well with the dates. My grandmother could have bought them herself or been given them as a wedding present. She was 16 when she arrived on the shores of Dover. Lucky for me Baverman wasn't Home Secretary at the time.

 

Exactly, same!!!

 

And lucky for Braverman's parents she wasn't Home Secretary when they came to the UK in the 60s.