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Candlestick (one of a near pair)

Birmingham, England

1775-1808

Maker

Thomas Dowler family (working 1751-1808 and later)

Measurements

1959.3800.1, 6-7/8 in x 3-7/8 in (dia); 1959.3800.2, 6-5/8 in x 3-5/8 in (dia)

Materials

Tinned sheet iron, brass

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.3800

Inscription

“DOWLER” in a serrated rectangle is stamped into the top of the ejector thumbpiece.

Condition Notes

The shaft of 1959.3800.1 has been reattached to the domed base with an iron plug and nut.  Parts of the candlesticks are bent, some seams have opened up, and surfaces are oxidized.

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

The two candlesticks are identical in appearance and both bear the same stamped maker's mark on the thumbpiece, yet they differ slightly in measurements but too much to consider them a true pair.  Each has a shaft formed by rolled sheet iron with a shallow drip pan and hooked tab at the top and a brass knop in the center.  The shafts attach to shallow domed bases with two tabs that extend from the iron sheet of the shaft and insert into slots.  A side ejection mechanism for the candle slides via a thumbpiece on one side.

This form of candlestick, an inexpensive and functional product, has been popularly called a “hogscraper” type because of its general resemblance to scrapers used to remove hide bristles.

The Dowler name stamped onto the thumbpiece relates to several candlestick makers working in Birmingham from about 1776 onward, including Thomas, Thomas Jr., William, Joseph, and others.  For more information, see Jean M. Burks, Birmingham Brass Candlesticks (Charlottesville:  University Press of Virginia, 1986), pp. 37-39.