Birmingham Brass Candlesticks

Little has previously been written about eighteenth-century English brass candlesticks which, widely used to illuminate British and American homes of the period, represent one of the most important groups of domestic objects. Jean Burks firmly establishes that the seven firms known to have marked their candlesticks were all located in Birmingham, England. The history and working dates of the firms are discussed, and some 140 surviving marked examples are analyzed and classified in terms of base types and candle-ejection mechanisms. The appendixes include annotated listings of sixty additional eighteenth-century Birmingham candlestick makers working in various media. Illustrated with 121 black and white photographs and drawings.