Silver on Copper Candlesticks
Silver on copper candlesticks bring warm metallic contrast to a room, offering the visual weight of silver over a durable copper base.
Silver on Copper Candlesticks
When you search for silver on copper candlesticks, you encounter pieces designed to hold taper candles while displaying a plated metallic surface over a base metal core. The examples appearing on this page span Georgian, Victorian, and Arts and Crafts periods, showing forms from simple domestic holders to grand telescopic pairs and chamber candlesticks.
The most frequent items you meet here are pairs of Old Sheffield plated candlesticks, often featuring telescopic shafts or ornate sconces. These domestic lighting pieces combine copper with a fused silver layer, a technique developed in the eighteenth century that remains characteristic of the category.
How they were made
Makers fused a thin sheet of silver to a thick copper ingot through heat and pressure before rolling the combined metal into sheets for fabrication. This Old Sheffield plate method created a composite material where the base copper occasionally shows at exposed edges or wear points.
Workshops also utilised paktong, a copper-nickel-zinc alloy, alongside standard copper bases for specific forms like chamber candlesticks. Surface ornamentation involved hand-chasing, applied silver wire borders, and structural soldering to assemble weighted bases and columns.
Listings feature materials spanning copper, silver plate, Sheffield plate, paktong, and turquoise across Georgian and Victorian periods.
What varies in quality
The distinction between standard domestic production and superior workshop output lies in the crispness of the chased decoration and the proportion of the casting. Heavier gauge metal provides structural integrity, whereas lighter examples show more distortion from centuries of handling and cleaning.
Plating thickness determines longevity, with heavier silver fusion resisting the base metal bleed-through that occurs on thinner surfaces. Telescopic mechanisms operate smoothly on finer examples, maintaining alignment across the sliding brass and plated brass inner tubes.
The Silver on Copper Candlesticks Glossary
- Old Sheffield Plate
- A composite material formed by fusing silver to a copper core under heat, preceding modern electroplating. This technique produces a warm tone distinct from later chemical plating.
- Telescopic
- A shaft design allowing the height of the candlestick to adjust through sliding inner tubes. This mechanism accommodates different candle lengths for dining tables.
- Paktong
- A copper-nickel-zinc alloy originating from China, valued in eighteenth-century Britain for bright metalwork. It forms durable bases for chamber candlesticks without needing silver plating.
- Chamber candlestick
- A low lighting device fitted with a pan to catch dripping wax and a handle for carrying through a house. These pieces often include a conical snuffer resting in a clip.
- Corinthian
- A classical capital style featuring acanthus leaves, applied to the top of candlestick columns. This architectural form appears on Georgian and Victorian plated examples.
Silver on Copper Candlesticks: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I clean them?
Use a mild cream polish designed for silver plate, applying light pressure to avoid exposing the underlying copper base.
Avoid abrasive cloths or chemical dips that strip the remaining silver layer from the high points of the decoration.
Are they solid silver?
These pieces consist of a copper or paktong base covered with a fused layer of silver rather than being solid precious metal.
Examination of the edges often reveals the reddish copper showing through where decades of polishing have worn the surface.
How do telescopic candlesticks work?
The inner shaft slides upward within the outer column to extend the overall height of the lighting piece for different settings.
Friction or internal stops hold the upper section in place once adjusted to the desired elevation.
What is Old Sheffield Plate?
Old Sheffield Plate is an early composite metal created by melting a silver sheet onto a copper ingot before rolling them together.
This mechanical fusion differs from nineteenth-century electroplating by leaving a thicker, softer layer of silver over the base metal.
Can I burn candles in them?
Standard taper candles fit securely into the sconces of these candlesticks for household illumination.
Ensure candles match the diameter of the nozzle to prevent wax from running down the plated shafts.