Chamber candlestick
- Place of origin:
York (made)
- Date:
1821-1822 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
James Barber and William Whitwell (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silver, raised and engraved
- Credit Line:
Arthur Hurst Bequest
- Museum number:
M.44 to B-1940
- Gallery location:
In Storage
The chamber candlestick, otherwise known as a chamberstick, bedroom candlestick or hand candlestick was intended to light the way indoors. It consists of a small flat tray or shallow, saucer like base with a central support for the candle, Some early examples have a flat or curved handle but on later ones there is a ring shaped handle, extending upwards from the rim in a loop. The handle sometimes supports, in a pierced slot, a candle snuffer, a small hollow cone which was placed over the lighted taper to extinguish the flame without causing the snuff to smoke. Candles could be made of tallow (animal fat), bees-wax or spermaceti (whale oil). Tallow was the cheapest of the three.
