A Pair of English Antique Toleware Hogscraper Candlesticks with Rise and Fall Mechanisms, circa 1800–1850

A well-matched pair of sheet-iron "hogscraper" candlesticks, English, first half of the 19th century, each retaining its original, fully functional rise-and-fall (push-up) mechanism.

Each candlestick is of characteristic form: a broad dished circular base — the "hogscraper" element, so named for its resemblance to the farmyard tool used to scrape bristles from a scalded hog — rising to a cylindrical sheet iron stem surmounted by a flared drip pan and socket. The socket rim of each carries the distinctive projecting ear or lip, allowing the candlestick to be hung from the slat of a ladder-back chair or a shelf edge to raise the light to working height — a much-loved feature of the type and increasingly hard to find intact.

The rise and fall mechanism operates by means of a turned knob travelling in a vertical slot cut through the stem, connected to an internal push-plate: as the candle burned down, the knob was raised to lift the stub, ensuring every last inch of tallow or wax was used, and finally to eject the spent end. Both mechanisms remain in full working order. The knobs show slight variance in their turned pattern, one to the other — honest evidence of hand manufacture rather than factory uniformity.

Both candlesticks retain a deep, untouched russet-brown patina throughout, entirely consistent with age, with no stripping, repainting, or later interference. The undersides show the original construction and genuine wear of two centuries of domestic use.

Everyday lighting of the English farmhouse, workshop, and cottage, hogscrapers in true pairs with working push-ups and both ears present are far scarcer than singles, and are much sought after by collectors of early lighting and vernacular metalware.

Provenance: England. Early-to-mid 19th-Century.

Material: Sheet iron.

Condition: Very good; both rise and fall mechanisms working; both ears intact; untouched patinated surface throughout; wear commensurate with age and use.

Dimensions: Height: 7½ in (19 cm) each