A candlestick is a device for lighting a room — an object that holds a candle. It is made of durable fireproof material. People began using candlesticks in everyday life and religious rituals to make lighting safer and more convenient.
The history of the appearance of candlesticks goes back centuries to the time when our earliest ancestors huddled in caves around fires. The first candles appeared in the Stone Age. Back then, niches in caves and stones were used as candle stands, and candles were made from animal fat. A lot has changed since then. Various materials began to be used to make candlesticks: clay, stone, bone, metal, and glass.
There is one interesting legend that is associated with the appearance of the first candlestick. Ancient Egyptians worshiped the sun god Ra. The god came to earth during a time of continuous calamity, appearing from a lotus flower blooming on the top of a hill with a burning fire inside. Therefore, the Egyptians made candle holders in the shape of a blossoming lotus flower, believing that it would bring life force and protect against adversity.
The candlestick from the museum collection consists of a base in the form of a bowl for collecting molten wax, a stand in the form of a figured rod with two tapering parts, and a cylindrical shaped bowl with edges bent outward into which the candle is inserted.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, candlesticks were mostly made of cast iron and copper. Perhaps similar items were made at the Nevyansk plant which operated a copper smelter. During the time of the Demidovs, copper ore was used locally (from the Pogorelsky mine) and imported from the Kolyvano-Voskresensky plant in Altai.
The production of copper products in Nevyansk, which began in the 18th century during the era of the Demidov mining manufacturers, continued in the era of the next factory owners, the Yakovlevs, at the end of the 18th — 19th centuries. As far as copper processing was concerned, Nevyansk craftsmen were, as they used to say, “more excellent than others.” They mastered casting, forging, carving, and chasing, and produced copperware, candlesticks and much more for sale. From the age of seven or eight boys joined the copper factory of the Nevyansk plant; they grew up and became highly skilled craftsmen.
