What is the difference between a torchère and a plant stand?

Historically the torchère was the tall slender stand made to carry a candelabrum, standing on a small tripod or platform foot. The plant stand came later, with the 19th-century fashion for indoor planting. In practice the two words are used for the same object. Dual titles such as "torchere or plant stand" are common, and 96 titles use one spelling of torchère or the other.

Which wood turns up most often?

Mahogany, by a distance. It appears in 168 titles, most of them the tall turned or carved column on a tripod base. Oak accounts for 43, walnut 26, and Chinese or Oriental hardwood makes up much of the remainder. Barley-twist stems show up on oak and fruitwood examples.

How old are the stands listed?

Dealer-entered dates run from 1750 to 1950, and 230 of 588 listings carry a clean year rather than a period word. The decade tags cluster tightly around 1900, and "19th Century" is the single largest bucket at 129. One sampled outlier sits earlier than the stated floor: a William and Mary walnut tripod candle stand given as circa 1690.

Are wirework conservatory stands common?

They are a small but persistent thread rather than a main branch. Fourteen titles mention wirework, alongside 29 for iron and 15 for wrought iron. Recorded examples include a revolving stand, one dated as early as circa 1820, and sizes up to 160cm. Tiered forms run to four tiers, some demi-lune.

Do these stands carry maker's marks?

A scan of the dealer descriptions for maker names returned nothing at all, so no firm can be treated as typical of the category. What the listings do carry is period, material and form: Victorian, Edwardian, mahogany, marble-topped, coopered oak. That is the language the archive works in.

What unusual pieces appear in this category?

Odd one-offs surface among the columns and pedestals. A plaster botanical model of a sunflower, an antler torchère, and a cast-iron birdcage on a stand have all been listed. Others include a pair of carved wood pedestals with a secret compartment and an elephant-seat pair carved with body and tusks. Around 63 plant stands are listed on Sellingantiques in a year, from 182 different dealers, so almost everybody carries one and nobody specialises.

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Antique Plant Stands

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A free-standing support made to lift a plant, pot, bust or candelabrum to eye or table height, in wood indoors and in iron or wirework under conservatory glass.