Can I clean the tarnish off my silver candlesticks?

A gentle clean is fine for removing heavy black tarnish. Use a quality silver polish and a soft cloth rather than harsh abrasive dips. Don't aim for a bright mirror finish. Leaving some darker oxidation in the recessed crevices helps highlight the relief decoration.

My dining table is quite large and I want to set up some lighting, so how many candlesticks would people traditionally use during a formal dinner?

Georgian and Victorian dining tables usually featured candlesticks in pairs or sets of four. They're spaced evenly down the centre to provide overlapping pools of light for the guests. Larger banquets sometimes combined a heavy multi-branch candelabrum in the centre with single matching sticks positioned towards the ends of the table. The host decided the layout based on the number of diners. Today, you can mix similar styles if you lack a uniform set. Grouping pieces of the same material and similar height works well on a long dining surface.

What is the hole in the socket side for?

That slot is a practical feature for removing old candle ends. Before modern mechanisms, wax or tallow would melt and glue the stump firmly into the cup. You push a metal pin or the end of a wick trimmer through the hole to pry the leftover stub upwards. It saves you from digging around inside the socket with a knife and scratching the metal.

I have a pair with green felt on the bottom that looks a bit worn and dusty, should I remove it or leave it alone?

Leave the original baize in place if it is still attached. That material was glued there specifically to stop heavy metal edges from scratching polished wooden furniture. Even if it looks tired, the fabric forms part of the history of the object. Removing it often exposes the messy pitch weighting inside the base, which was never meant to be seen.

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Antique Candlesticks

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Designed to hold tallow or beeswax candles upright, antique candlesticks range from simple brass domestic columns to elaborate silver dining table centrepieces.