The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-03
CONCERNING CANDLES.
Ancient EccIesiastic Sticks to Orna-
ment Modern Homes


The Jack who can jump over the new
art candlestick must be light-footed and
sinewy person. for brass, bronze. and sill
YER sticks measuring from three to seven
feet in height, are no longer counted
among the rare and expensive furnish
ings for the handsome drawing and din
ing rooms. The great ecclesiastical can
delabrum gave the ambitious house dec
orator his first inspiration for this. and
so potent is the law of fashion now gov
erning the house beautiful that candle
light is esteemed far above the clearer
and more powerful gas, oil. or electric
light illumination. This is. of course,
where the candle and candlestick makers
score heavily and profitably, and to meet
the demand for wax. paraffin, and tallow
tapers. and for brass. crystal. bronze.
silver. and copper sticks, their skill and
ingenuity is taxed with the richest re-
suits.
In the shops where antiques are sold
there is hardly a pretence any longer
maintained of keeping in stock genuine
metal sticks that have been reft from ca
thedrals. synagogues. or medieval
houses. That supply is exhausted, but
the modern imitator of classic forms lives
nobly up to his task of supplying the ac-
tive need for these wares. a beautiful
pair of hand-beaten brass or copper sticks
from the studio of a reputable modern
metal worker fetch as high price as a
genuine antique. and just now there is
no small amount of enthusiasm demon
strated over single, massive square sticks,
for the adornment of newell posts,
wrought by one American artist. fine
specimen he has recently completed for a
seaside villa shows the rising sun and an
ancient caravel in high relief on one of
its sides; and this handsome column. Mt
ted to black oak newell post. holds a tai
low taper as big as a mans wrist and
three feet tall. For the same house he
wrought in silver a pair of mante shelf
sticks in the Aubrey Beardsly style that
seem to have taken the house decorators
heart by storm. Two tall and slender
girls. in close. clinging draperies of silver,
let fall about their narrow ivory faces
straight, mermaid locks, also of silver.
The streaming tresses float outward. turn
up at the ends, and in those ends sockets
for candles are set.
Art silver. combined with ivory. is an
arrangement extravagantly admired in
artistic candle manufacture, especially
when design is used that-areveals the
beauty of the feminine form divine: and
enameled pewter, nodded in these shapes,
carries no small amount of commercial
weight with 1t. At dinner parties this
season il has been the fashion to use ten
and twelve branch candelabra, without
any shades. When Mr.. William c. Whit
ney gave a dinner of twenty-four covers
in his great Fifth Avenue house last
month. says an exchange, his dininS-room
was lighted by $50 wax candles. and on
the table every socket of the lofty. many
branched candelabra held two tapers.
This was achieved by the use of split
tapers, or branched candles. as they are
sometimes called. The branched candies
have main trunk that fits in the stick $
socket but a few inches up the trunk
divides at right angles into two. three. or
even five tail and separate tapers. These
numberless waved flames burned IN
shaded. and the guests were very much
astonished at the imported Portuguese
candles that are not only eharmingly
colored. very like Neapolitan ice cream,
and burning with flame tinted to match
the red yellow, or blue wax.
Since antique or new art sticks have re-
vived the use of candles the dealers in
toilet supplies have imported small aro-
matte boudoir candles from France. The
coloIs of the tapers signify the special
aroma given out in the burning, and,
when one or two flame softly as the toilet
is in progress, a most rare and delicious
fragrance will be impaired to the hair
and garments of the person who dresses
in their neighborhood. 1t almost goes
without saying that the aromatic candles
belong in sticks that are at once Orna-
mental and in harmony with the wax
lights they hold. The Glove tapers fit
for example. in slim and exquisite Kali
serin sticks designed to show the carna-
ton plant form. and with wild clematis
and Jasmine the vine and flower are re-
peated in the modelling of their deliclte
and graceful sticks.