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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



March, 1908 



Illumination at Mount Vernon 



By Paul Beckwith 



HERE was no need to sit in darkness in the 

 mansions of our Colonial forefathers. They 

 were well supplied with lamps of various 

 patterns and of various metals, and in them 

 was used the purest sperm oil. Washing- 

 ton's mansion at Mount Vernon was no ex- 

 ception. From bills, invoices and numerous 

 items in the expense account of General Washington, in his 

 own handwriting, are found numerous references to the pur- 

 chase of lamps and brackets. 



The most interesting is the old brass candlestick used by 

 General Washington in his various camps and headquarters 

 throughout the War of the Revolution. It was in the Execu- 

 tive Mansion at Philadelphia; then in the library at Mount 

 Vernon. General Washington had it in his equipment at 

 his last headquarters, the Berrien House, Rocky Hill, N. J., 

 when he wrote his "Farewell to the Various Branches of the 

 Army," November 2, 1783. This old brass candlestick stood 

 on his table at Mount Vernon when writing his "Farewell 

 Address to the People of the United States." September 

 19, 1796. 



The candlestick is twenty-one inches high, terminating in 

 a smooth brass ring. It is furnished with a reflector eleven 

 and one-half inches in width and five inches high. On either 



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side is fastened a candle socket, four inches long, adjusted 

 and held by screws at the desired height. There are two 

 brass knobs, attached by set screws to the main stem, upon 

 which the snuffers hung, revolving separately. The reflector, 

 of polished brass, is fastened to the standard by thin brass 

 bars, running the whole length at right angles with upper 

 end of standard, adjustable by a set screw. 



There were many glass candelabra in use in the Executive 

 Mansion and at Mount Vernon upon the dining table, which, 



Washington's Candlestick and Reflector 



Lamps and Candlesticks 



with double and single silver lamps on the mantels and others 

 with reflectors attached to the walls, brilliantly illuminated 

 the room. 



The candelabra were made of white glass twenty inches in 

 height. The triangular tapering stem, arising from a base 

 of black marble, six inches in diameter, terminated in a cup- 

 shaped vase, three inches deep with scalloped edges; about 

 one-third distance of stem from base is introduced a metal 

 section to hold the parts together. From this point four 

 graceful arms extend; two of these bear large handsome set 

 sockets for candles, and two terminate in small ornaments. 

 Large oblong well-cut pear-shaped pieces of glass, joined 

 with small metal links, form four festoons; there are also 

 drops of glass from every available point, producing a daz- 

 zling effect. 



