Pair of Wonderfully Decorative Antique Adams Style Candlesticks

THE STORY - I fell madly in love with this pair of Candlesticks as soon as my eyes fell upon them, there was for me something fabulously beautiful about their faded elegance. The candlesticks are I believe made from Old Sheffield Plate maybe the earliest form of Silver Plating and and are embossed with decoration which is very much in the Adams Style. And my instinct tells me they would date to circa 1800. I adore their square bases decorated with Swags and Bows and the simple stylised flower pattern spiralling up the columns of the candlesticks. And yes I appreciate these Candlesticks would in their past life have been an awful lot shinier and if kept safely away in a cabinet may possibly still be so. But it is the fact they are not that I love, they have lived a life, the copper base of the Sheffield Plate bleeds through wonderfully especially on the swags and bows of the bases, I think the sconces have been lost in days past and their tops are misshapen and there are some signs of wax from more recent years on them, yet still the elegance and beauty of their design shines through. The candlesticks are weighted to prevent them being easily knocked over when lit.

AGE - Circa 1800

CONDITION - This pair of Candlesticks are for me in a beautifully decorative condition, but they carry the scars of their long past. As I have already mentioned I believe the sconces have been lost in time, but they have been used without them. I think it is obvious from the photos that the Old Sheffield Plate shows the Copper bleeding through. The bases are not badly misshapen at all, but there would have been a covering on the bases covering the weighted bottoms and as you can see from the photos one of the weights has partially broken off. There appears to be no dents to the columns of the candlesticks but the tops are misshapen this is particularly true of one, which looks like a section has been slightly melted best seen in the seventh photo. I do want to point out that these candlesticks have been used in the recent past and when I asked I was advised they could certainly be used again, I would recommend caution if you choose to do so.

DIMENSIONS (Approx) - Height 6&1/4" / 16cm, Base - 3" / 7.5cm square, Top 1" Diameter

For me when you have something that is essentially beautiful and I think the design of this pair of candlesticks are, that beauty does not disappear with the signs of a life lived but sometimes it can enhance and articulate the beauty in a new way. When I look at theses candlesticks I think of the tables they have sat on, to the conversations and gossip they have heard, to the light they have given to new friendships and it is that that makes them so very beautiful to me.