MEDIEVAL CANDLE HOLDER

1300

Sheet copper alloy folding candle holder missing its cup which would have held the candle. The holder is folded so that its four elements are parallel and are now fused together through corrosion. There is a folded rectangular strip which wraps around the hinge to create two stems which hold a third plate between them. One of the strips has a panel of oblique linear engraving on the exterior face, which is obscured partially by the fourth element, the spike, which sits on top of it. The spike is cast with a ratcheted hinge which rotates around a copper alloy pin that slots through the loop of the folded strip as well as the hinge. The two strips have a longitudinal slot on either side of the loop to accommodate the hinge wheel. There wheel has three notches in it which were used to hold the end of the plate or tab within the stems. The tab would have originally pivoted outside of the stems, so that the wheel could be rotated to another notch, and then moved back to slot back in, as it is now. The tab would have originally been longer and riveted to the candle cup and so this mechanism would have allowed the candle to be adjusted to different angles. The terminals of the two stems would have extended and slotted into a folded sheet attachment loop on the side of the candle cup, which would also have been riveted together. The spike was hafted within a wooden handle in order to carry the candle.Read (2001) illustrates three candle holders which demonstrate how the complete artefact would have looked on page 126, Fig.82, Nos.897-899, which are dated from the 14th century.Egan (1998) illustrates a similar adjustable candle holder from London on page 147, fig.115.