Better to Light a Candle…

than to curse the darkness. ~Chinese Proverb

I had the brilliant idea to stop by my favorite antique shop last week.  I only did it to kill time, you know, not really shopping or anything like that of course…but then, I walked in the door and I saw a glimmer of etched cranberry glass.  Well, of course I had to make a beeline for it.

Oh, it was love at first sight!  It’s heavy brass, which is in serious need of some polish, and there are four wonderful fish arcing down the base.

Hmmm…but what exactly is it?  It’s not a lamp and it didn’t look like any candleholder I had ever seen.  The central brass tube is made up of two pieces that lock together.

A spring slides down into the brass tube. 

A visit to an antiques board here on the web gave me an answer to the question of what exactly it was that I had found…it’s a spring loaded candle holder.  The candle goes down into the brass tube on top of the spring.  Then the top brass piece is put on and locked into place.  As the candle burns, the spring pushes the candle up to the top of the tube so it continues to burn.  Pretty cool, huh!

The most common ones made now are altar candle holders for churches.  I have no clue how old this one is…I just thought it was wonderful.  The best part???  I only paid $5.00 for it!  When I saw the price on it, I thought “Oh yeah baby! You are definitely going home with me!”

I’m hoping to have time to sit down this weekend and get it polished.  I can’t wait to see that brass glowing!

I’m joining Paula and Patti at Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday.

Thanks for visiting today!

DG