Another Chamberstick

[tamrock]

I went back to the ts I got the two other chambersticks and weight silver and took a second look at this other chamberstick I passed on. At the time I got the other stuff my hands were full. I didn't see any marks on it the first time as I looked at it then rather quickly and was sure it was plated and not particularly old. This time I looked at it closer and the marks are on the top of the dish and it appears to be a more quality piece of silver plate. The marks look to be that of Elkington, but I'm really not sure how old it is? Maybe mid 19th C. to first half of the 20 C.? It be nice if it would date to a time when this was not just a retro piece of silver-plated decor, but made at a time when it was still a standard way to light up the home, as I have an interest the types of period lighting used in the past from oil lamps of ancient times to early electric lighting. Hopefully the Professor of marks RC can shed some light on the age this piece?

 

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[Blak bart]

I was blown away at the value of the last finds....congrats tam....your on a roll !!

 

[tamrock]

It has been. This piece not so much outside my curiosity, but we'll see what Red-Coat says. It didn't cost much if anything.

 

[Blak bart]

Yup....and a big thanks to red-coat, who always seems to have a wealth of knowledge and is a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge.

 

[Red-Coat]

Yes, that’s definitely Elkington silverplate, but their marks can be a nightmare to read because they chopped and changed the format continually. For almost every logical sequence they’re known to have used, you can find anomalous variations. What I am able to say is this:

The general format of the marks on your piece corresponds to the series between 1841-1848. In that series, the last character in the diamond lozenge should be a number that gives the date. They started with ‘1’ in 1841 and ended with ‘8’ in 1848. The ‘6’ for 1846 is usually reversed. Yours looks like a letter ‘G’ which doesn’t fit the sequence.

From 1849-1864 they switched to a new format and began using date letters instead of numbers. The format for your marks doesn’t match that series and in any case the series began with ‘K’ for 1849 and ran through to ‘Z’ for 1864.

They changed the format again between 1865-1885 and the format for your marks doesn’t match that series either, but the date letter then works. They started anew with ‘A’ in 1865 and ended with ‘Z’ for 1885, skipping the letters B, C, I, and J. The letter ‘Q’ was not used by the ‘sheet’ department and only sometimes by the ‘cast’ department.

The date letter ‘G’ comes round again in 1892 and again in 1918 but not in a diamond lozenge, and not with the marks in that format. If I correctly read that last character as a ‘G’ in a diamond lozenge then I would put more faith in that than in the general format of the marks as a whole… which would make it 1869.

 

[tamrock]

Well thanks for your efforts Red-Coat, as I was a bit familiar with the complex markings on Elkington with something else I once had. Also on the opposite side of the snuffer there's a square post as though it was there to mount some other accessory for it, but I'm not finding any images of a chamberstick with anything other than a snuffer.

 

[Red-Coat]

Well thanks for your efforts Red-Coat, as I was a bit familiar with the complex markings on Elkington with something else I once had. Also on the opposite side of the snuffer there's a square post as though it was there to mount some other accessory for it, but I'm not finding any images of a chamberstick with anything other than a snuffer.

You're welcome. The earliest Elkington catalogue I have is from the 1880s but there's nothing in the illustrations which suggests any accessories, nor any visible post or peg to hold such items. However, chambersticks were 'portable' devices intended for you to take the illumination with you as you moved around. To that extent, some had an (optional) glass shade to ensure the candle didn't get blown out when subjected to draughts and also if you ventured outdoors (in the latter case, they're known as 'storm shades'). As a pure guess, that peg may have been to properly locate such a shade in the correct position and stop it toppling over.