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Dear Helaine and Joe: Can you tell me what I own and if it is worth anything? There are glass prisms and brass figures, like American Indians and pilgrims. My mother insisted that I take it when she gave me a piano.
– SB
Dear SB:
I would like to thank your mother for giving you the Girandole, which was probably made about 10 years before the Civil War.
The word Girandole means fireworks and candlesticks in Italian. The term sometimes refers to a convex mirror with two to four candle arms (sometimes a frame with an eagle on top), but rarely refers to a basket with flowers or a dragon / dolphin. There is also.
The general idea was that the mirror would reflect candle light in a dark room, making things a bit brighter.
Another type of Girandole included a central sconce with two sconces on the sides. All three were usually adorned with strings of flowers with prisms hanging from the ends of the candle cups. The central parts of the sconces and the two sconces were cast in brass or bronze (often gold-plated or sometimes silver-plated) and were figurative in form.
There were flowers and jumping beetles, but there were also literary themes such as Robinson Crusoe, Uncle Tom and Eva, Lip Van Winkle, and most often Paul and Virginia. Name.
The Girandole candlestick in today’s issue is based on James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans: The Story of 1757.
Novels and candlesticks take us to western New York during the French and Indian wars. The candlestick shows the character of the Mohican chef Chingachgook sitting on a log with Natti Bumpo, also known as Hawkeye. Behind her stands Ankasu, the son of Chingachgook and the last Mohican.
The two candlesticks to accompany are the daughter of Lieutenant Munro, commander of Fort William Henry, and Major Duncan Hayward, Cola’s escort on her father’s visit from Fort Edward. Is pulled.
Coke and his sister Alice were accompanied by Hawkeye and singer David Gamut. Everything was captured by Native Americans along the way.
SB must carefully examine his Girandole and can find one of the many date marks, such as the signature “Cornelius and Company” and “Patented April 10, 1849”. This date is due to a patent issued to Cornelius, Philadelphia, and Isaac Baker, Baker and Company, for the Girandole “Last Mohawk” set. Cornelius and Baker were major American lighting manufacturers in the mid-19th century.
It is the beautiful Girandole “Mohawk Last”. Looks like it has all the original prisms, and that’s important. A complete set of “Last of the Mohicans” Girandole with the original Dore gold surface may well exceed $ 2,000, but a sconce with a dull bronze finish sells for between $ 500 and $ 750.
Helen Fendermann and Joe Rosson have written many books on antiques. Do you have any articles you would like to know more about? Contact Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917 or email Treasures @ knology.net. If you want your question reflected in their column, include high-resolution photos of the topic you should be focusing on in your question.
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