Fire-making apparatus—Candles and candlesticks—Oil lamps and lanterns.

Artificial light and heat were among the first scientific discoveries of primeval man. To harness the forces of Nature was undoubtedly a great achievement, and at first would be viewed with alarm. The fire which had been kindled from natural causes would be looked upon with awe by the cave men or the dwellers in the forest. When they saw it dying down they would very naturally make some effort to keep the fire burning by adding fresh fuel. The time would come, however, when lighting a fire by artificial means would be resorted to; and the methods adopted in those far-off days involved the use of primitive contrivances, some of which are described on the next page. The fire burning under the camp kettle would in course of time suggest a flaming torch, which could be carried about at will; and from the torch, which burned all too quickly, came the discovery of oil lamps and the candle. At first this was only a rushlight, used side by side with the cresset torch; and then in later days came lamps and lanterns.

Fire-making Apparatus.

The collector of copper and brass looks with regret on the early fire-making apparatus in that iron was the chief metal employed. Nevertheless there are some objects associated with fire-making manufactured in brass. There are some well-known collectors who have specialized on fire-making appliances and early lamps. Among fire-making appliances are those of the percussion type, commencing with iron pyrites, flint, steel, and tinder. Some of the earlier tinder boxes were made of brass, although the majority were of wood and tin; many of the pistol-action tinder boxes which immediately followed the earlier form were furnished with stands and candle-sockets, being used for the purpose of lighting an early candle. Some of the brass candle-stands and candle-sockets are beautifully engraved, and many of the contrivances which were fired by the priming of gunpowder, the flash igniting the tinder, are highly ornamental. That method, of course, marked an advance. There are pistol-action tinder boxes from Japan, highly ornamental, the cases being pierced and in some instances decorated with raised silver and copper relief. From China and Central Asia come tinder pouches, many of them having decorative brass mounts, some being gilt on copper. Tinder was often carried about in tubes of brass and copper, some of the best examples being very elaborately engraved. In some small compartments are found; these were intended for the flint and steel. A later type of mechanical fire-making appliance, introduced by Richard Lorentz, in 1807, took the form of a patented compression tube or fire syringe, the piston of which was of brass. Chemical methods of lighting fires and striking lights have been tried with more or less success, and among the collectable curios are relics of these early attempts to produce fire and light by scientific methods. The collector, while welcoming every curious object, has generally to rely upon the objects which were in common use and made in larger quantities. Of these commonly used appliances, however, there are many varieties, and of the more perfected forms of lighting requisites there is an abundant choice.

Candles and Candlesticks.

Many are the legends and stories of the days when the flickering light of a candle threw shadows across the ceiling and partly lighted and partly obscured the table and floor. Ghostly, too, they seemed as the embers of the fire died on the hearth. The provision of artificial light for use during the long winter evenings has always been one of the domestic cares, and the women of the household were in early days mindful of the coming winter during the summer and autumn months. Among their domestic duties was that of gathering and drying rushes and dipping them in fat. The primitive rushlights gave an uncertain glimmer, and the moulding of candles with cotton wicks would be welcomed as an advance. Candles were home-made until comparatively modern times, and the candle mould was an essential in every household. It was frequently of brass, and varied in size and in the number of moulds, the one shown in Fig. 46 having only two tubes. While the custom of making candles at home continued long in country districts, in towns candle-making became a trade, and, as was the custom in those days, the moulders of candles assembled together in certain well-known thoroughfares. In London, Candlewick Street, the name of which has since been corrupted into Cannon Street, was their rendezvous.

The store of candles for immediate use was kept close at hand in the candle box, placed against the wall in some convenient position. The boxes were of wood and japanned tin; others were of brass, some being very ornamental and covered over with engravings. Such candle boxes are to be found in the curio shops; several fine examples may frequently be seen near St. James's Park Station in London, where there are several curio dealers who specialize on old copper and brass, the neighbourhood being quite a happy hunting ground for the collector of metal.

The evolution of the candlestick was slow at first. The old rushlight-holders were made by the country smith, and very clumsy they were on their heavy wooden stands. The first idea seems to have been to stick the candle on a spike, oftentimes such spikes being placed conveniently on the wall. Then came the "sticks" on stands which could be moved about the room, in some cases with a sliding holder, the height of which could be regulated. Gradually, however, the candlestick for table use and the candlestick with the dished base, which became common as the type of the chamber candlestick, came into being. With the progress made and the general acceptance of the two types, the pillar candlestick and the chamber candlestick, the artist in metal began to turn his attention to perfecting their forms and decorating them.

Many remarkable candlesticks in bronze are met with among ecclesiastical brasses, some of which are referred to in Chapter VII. Of the domestic candlesticks there are many early examples, some with beautifully twisted columns and later fluted examples. The pricket candlestick—that is, a candlestick with a spike on which a candle was firmly placed—eventually gave way to the more convenient socket, and a flange at the top of the column held any candle grease which might run down the sides of the candle. The pricket candlesticks of early twelfth-century make illustrated in Fig. 47 may be referred to as examples of the pricket form, their chief attractions being found in the richly enamelled decoration. In Fig. 48 we are able to illustrate a very interesting candelabrum now in the National Museum at Washington City. It is made up literally of two candlesticks attached to a very simple pillar bracket on which they slide up and down, the addition of a metal reflector suggesting later developments in candlesticks and lamps. In the later days both brass and silver candlesticks, especially the tall lights used on mantelpiece or on sideboard, were ornamented in keeping with the plate of the period, and were eventually classed among the more decorative appointments of the home.

When candles were made of tallow the wicks burned black and charred and a constant snuffing was necessary. This brought about the use of snuffers of polished steel and of brass, and a little later of snuffer trays, the snuffers and their accompanying trays forming a most interesting addition to the collection of metal. Candlesticks are still used, but the candles are of superior quality and burn steady and bright. Some are very decorative, too, especially the painted candlesticks which with their ornamental shades are attached to pianos, and are used as wall lights or as additional lights upon the table. The days of brass candlesticks, snuffers, and trays have, however, long been numbered, and most of these relics of old-world lights have passed into the region of curios. Here and there they may be seen in their once accustomed place, but more as ornament than for actual use. In a well-known hotel, at one time an old coaching house famous for its copper and brass wares, the candlesticks in those early days a necessity are now placed in pairs on the bedroom mantelpieces as mementoes of the past. They are not intended for use, for the electric switch is at hand, and the newer light has taken the place of the wax candle (see Fig. 49).

The lines which some years ago were printed in connection with a concert given in aid of the Glasgow Candlemakers and Tallow workers are appropriate:

Oil Lamps and Lanterns.

Much might be written of oil lamps and lanterns, of which there are many interesting curios. They are varied, too, for they cover a large field reaching from almost prehistoric times to the present day. Many lamps of metal and bronze have survived and are found in our museums side by side with the still earlier examples of terra-cotta and crude pottery. There is a very interesting collection of early lamps in the Guildhall Museum, one of the most attractive examples being a Roman lamp of bronze, a portion of the central oil space being covered. The bronze lamp illustrated in Fig. 50 which may be seen in the London Museum, is claimed by the authorities to be unique in London finds, and is probably the finest example of a Roman lamp discovered in England. The collector finds his most interesting examples in lamps which have been made in this country the outcome of the candle and of the candle lamp which was gradually evolved. Many of these early candle lamps were adaptations of old candlesticks; it would appear that the idea of enclosing a candle in a horn lantern and thereby securing greater steadiness on account of its being protected from the wind and draughts, which had already been adopted, suggested a glass cup or protection to the candle on the table. It is quite likely that the first experiments were made with a broken cup of porcelain with the bottom knocked out, for the earliest examples seem to have taken that form, the cup-like vessels being gradually confined more and more at the top and the bottom. The idea of a candle-clock occurred to seventeenth-century candlestick makers, who marked the edges of the lamp on the framework so that as the candles burned low they marked the hours. The burning would be more or less irregular, but the marks on the candle-clocks would be some guide, and served their purpose in days when the time of day was of less moment than it is now.

Oil, which had early been the chief lighting medium, was once more in the ascendant when in the eighteenth century oil lamps gradually took the place of candles. Fig. 48 represents a handsome pair of old oil lamps, their beautifully shaped vase containers being reminiscent of the urns and vases at that time ornamenting the mahogany sideboard. It is said that many such lamps were made in England and sent over to America before the War of Independence, and that in the homesteads of the old plantations such relics have been treasured. The examples shown in the accompanying illustrations are now in the United States National Museum at Washington.

In the days when the watchman called the time of the night street-lighting was unknown. Lanterns were carried in the hand and the links-boys were in attendance.

In Fig 51 is shown a brass lantern (open and closed) which is now the property of the Sunderland Public Libraries and Art Gallery Committee, a very interesting specimen of an eighteenth-century collapsible lantern of brass and horn. It measures 6¼ in. high and is 3-3/8 in. square. Such lanterns were very common in the eighteenth century, and indeed in still more recent times in country places where they were very necessary before country roads were improved and rural thoroughfares lighted.

We must, however, fain pass over street-lighting for the lanterns which have been copied so many times in more recent days. Apropos of lanterns of copper carried by the wary traveller and of the copper lightning conductor on the church steeple, an indispensable feature still, the following lines are quoted:

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BELLS AND
BELL-METAL
CASTINGS