Taperstick
1702 (made), 1702-1703 (hallmarked)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A taperstick is a type of utensil similar to and usually in the style of various types of candlestick but smaller being about 10 cm high and is used to hold a taper (a thin candle). They usually exist singly and not as one of a pair since one is usually sufficient for the intended use. The socket is sometimes lined with paper in order to hold securely the tall thin taper. The taper, (made of wax and non odorous) was used mainly for melting sealing wax and for lighting candles, tobacco pipes etc., and not as a source of illumination; hence the piece was sometimes called a ‘tobacco candlestick’.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver |
| Brief description | Silver, London hallmarks (Britannia standard) for 1702-3, mark of Edmund Proctor. |
| Physical description | Taperstick, silver (Britannia standard), the foot pierced with the inscription, QUEEN ANN 1702. Circular, slightly domed foot with tapering boss, separated from the baluster stem by a circular frill pierced and engraved with leaves and bearing the the second inscription; cylindrical, plainly moulded socket. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Purchased under the Bequest of Francis Reubell Bryan |
| Object history | Extract from a report by H.P. Mitchell: It was a family heirloom of Charles Kingsley and his daughter who is now obliged to part with it and tells me that the family tradition repeated to her both by her father and grandfather is that it was given by Queen Anne to their ancestor, Mrs Kingsley, who was governess to William, Duke of Gloucester (Queen Anne's elder son who died in 1700 at the age of eleven). |
| Summary | A taperstick is a type of utensil similar to and usually in the style of various types of candlestick but smaller being about 10 cm high and is used to hold a taper (a thin candle). They usually exist singly and not as one of a pair since one is usually sufficient for the intended use. The socket is sometimes lined with paper in order to hold securely the tall thin taper. The taper, (made of wax and non odorous) was used mainly for melting sealing wax and for lighting candles, tobacco pipes etc., and not as a source of illumination; hence the piece was sometimes called a ‘tobacco candlestick’. |
| Bibliographic reference | V&A Catalogue, 1965, Pl. 102.
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.235-1924 |
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| Record created | September 10, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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