214 BULLETIN 139, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



this order, but the wick was raised or lowered by a rack and pinion 

 at the base of the candlestick. Before 1847 Palmer invented a wick 

 which had one-tenth of the strands coated with nitrate of bismuth, 

 which caused the burnt end of the wick to curl over. 



Candlesticks. — In the torch stage holders are not a pressing need. 

 The torch is a rather temporary form of illumination employed mainly 

 for night travel and was carried about by a delegated bearer. In 

 ceremonies and about habitations improvised holders became neces- 

 sary. The resin torch, which shows a marked advance on the bun- 

 dled torch, begins to be accompanied with designed holders. Thus in 

 the Malay area are found torch stands and even a torch chandelier. 

 There is doubtless a line of these holders up to the candleholders of 

 China. In Europe the torch splint for household use, dating from 

 the Iron Age, introduces a series of devices which may be graded thus: 

 A flattened loop bent in an iron strip, a V-shaped prong acting as a 

 grip and support for the splint; a hinged clip resembling tongs; a 

 hinged clip and candle socket combined; and a socket candlestick 

 alone. This is suggestive of the lineage of the socket candleholder 

 (pi. 34. figs. 1-5). 



Rude candlesticks of wood, like those from Finland shown on Plate 

 35, Figures 1 and 2, are examples of the simple domestic art of the fron- 

 tier or of formerly much isolated communities. The iron candlestick 

 from Pennsylvania (pi. 35, fig. 4) was commonly found in rural dis- 

 tricts of the eastern United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth 

 centuries. 



The pricket candlestick appears to descend from the torch holder 

 set in the walls of old castles (pi. 35, fig. 3). Antique church candle- 

 sticks, especially the large altarpieces, had the spike, either a survival 

 of an earlier torch stand or required by art; that is, a socket for a 

 large candle would force bulkiness in the stem and base of the candle- 

 stick and destroy the harmony between the candle and its holder. 

 The spike also is adequate for the placement of a candle not to be 

 moved about, but the socket is necessary for ambulant candlesticks. 



A well-carved square tablet of oak soaked with grease and having 

 an irregular hole burnt in the middle, found in the hull of an ancient 

 Viking ship dating 800-1000, is identified as a candlestick. Several 

 of these, more or less charred, were found. There was no socket 

 present, and it is probable that the candle was set up on a nail or 

 peg.^^ 



The taper holder is of two varieties, the one a bowl or reservoir in 

 which the cord is coiled, and an upright around which the coil is 

 wound. In the Russian taper holder the bowl is mounted on a stem 

 with base, and thus resembles a lamp, as the specimen in the church 



M Scribner's Magazine, November, 1887, p. 613. 



