Colonial Homes and Their FurnishingsNorthend, Mary Harrod
History
Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
Northend, Mary Harrod
Architecture, Colonial; Furniture -- United States
A particularly fine pair of these sconces is found in the Osgood house
on Chestnut Street, Salem. Here the brass filigree work is in the form
of a lyre encircled with a laurel wreath, and surmounted by the head of
Apollo. The tree branches curve gracefully outward from the wreath and
below the lyre.
In the early part of the eighteenth century, snuffers and snuffer boats,
as the trays in which the candlesticks rested were known, came into use.
These were sometimes of plain design, and sometimes fanciful, made
either of brass or silver. Pewter was also used for this purpose, and
later it became a favorite metal for the manufacture of hall lamps and
candlesticks.
[Illustration: PLATE LII.--Pierced, or Paul Revere Lantern; Old Hand
Lantern; English Silver Candlesticks; Brass Branching Candlesticks,
Chippendale, 1760.]
Lanterns next came into style and were a prominent feature of the
hallway furnishing. Many of these were gilded and many were painted, and
their greatest period of popularity was during the first part of the
eighteenth century. About 1750 the first glass lamps came into favor.
These were not like those of a later period, being very simple in form,
and not particularly graceful.
In 1782 a Frenchman, named Argand, introduced the lamp which still bears
his name. This marked the beginning of the lamp era, and while at first
these lamps were so high in price that they could only be afforded by
the wealthier classes, later they were produced at a more reasonable
figure, when they came into general use.
The last half of the eighteenth century marked the adoption of
magnificent chandeliers, many of which are still preserved. One such is
found in the Warner house at Portsmouth, in the parlor at the right of
the wide old hall, a room wherein have assembled many notable
gatherings, for the Hon. Jonathan Warner was a generous host. This
specimen is among the finest in the country, and is in keeping with the
other fine old-time fittings.
About the beginning of the nineteenth century, candelabra and lamps with
glass prisms were much used, some of them very simple in design, being
little more than a plain stick with a few prisms attached, while others
were very elaborate. Many of these candlesticks and candelabra are still
preserved, together with the other old-time lights. In a Jamaica Plain
home are some very valuable specimens of lighting fixtures that once
stood on the mantel in the Sprague House on Essex Street, Salem, having
been brought to this country by the first owner at the time the dwelling
was being furnished for his bride.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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