Chambersticks

Modest and practical, the silver chamberstick was in use during the seventeenth century, but examples are not generally found before the last quarter of the century. In the line of the old nursery rhyme, ‘Here comes a candle to light you to bed’, the words refer to a chamberstick which consisted of a saucer-shaped base for safety, with a short candle-socket in its centre, and a simple handle by which to carry it around the house. Larger homes might later have an assortment of such chambersticks set upon a table in the hall, a person taking one when it was needed and lighting it from a special master taper. Usually made of a lighter metal, the diameter of the saucer-shaped dish varied but generally measured about six inches, the short socket standing about three inches high. Most late seventeenth and eighteenth century examples would have a shapely scroll handle soldered beneath the base and curving upwards. (more…)