Here is the answer to yesterday's 'mystery object'. It is an adjustable candle stand, made in England, a very few years either side of the year 1800. It's purpose is to enable its owner to read small print by candle light, by raising or lowering the candle flame so as to be as near the page as is safely possible.
And here is a photo showing your blogger reading a rather small printed version of Tom Brown's Schooldays, and demonstrating how the candle stand would have been used.
It was sold to me as being a lace maker's lamp stand. A lace maker's lamp is a footed glass sphere that, when filled with water, became a quite effective magnifying glass. However, my home village finally got the electricity in 1950, so that I do know about reading by candle light, and the adjustable candle stand made reading by candle light a much easier proposition. It probably would have made lacemaking easier of a winter evening, but I think the major purpose would have been to assist in reading after dark.
9 comments:
P.s. When the wooden 'grub screw' is undone, the stand pulled out, and the 'grubscrew' tightened again, the height of the stand can be extended from seven and a half inches to eleven inches.
Well, I think that Crowbard was teasing with his earlie guesses and he knew the answer all along!
I fear you may be right Z. He has spent the last seventy years teasing his older sibling, whilst cannily staying just out of reach of that admonitory clip round the ear'ole that responsible elder brothers were expected to administer in those more civilised days.
Bless you Z, In this instance it was an informed guess rather than certain knowledge; all teasing of BigBruv is done on the basis of love, respect and hero-worship and all ear-clipping is returned in the spirit of fraternal responsibility.
Ouch !
I thought that in the original posting you said that this would be "easy". So how did a cake stand turn into a candle stand. Nothing "easy" about that at all. I'm beginning to suspect that certain members of your fan club are using some sort of divination that goes beyond the realm of " well it looks like a cake stand so I'll say that". In the interests of complete exposure I just want to say that I have never used Google or any of it's myriad succubi in my attempts to identify any of the mystery objects. Which may go a long way to explaining my dismal track record to date.
I think it should be understood that the expression is " full disclosure" and not "full exposure". The latter could leave me open to a number of inconvenient charges.
Dear Cully (Paul), I very carefully put a measurement of six inches across the top of the stand, which would of course, be much to small for a cake stand. Beccles cakes , as I'm sure you know (although I don't, never having heard of a Beccles cake before this interesting correspondence started. I suppose you could fit three Eccles cakes on top of a six inch cake stand. They are named after 'the Famous Eccles' of the Goon Show (and if you'll believe that.......). There aren't any rules to my 'Mystery Object' competition, and of course there aren't any prizes, but this is only because I'm a natural Tightwad (or meanie). And as there are no rules, anyone can use whatever work of reference they wish, as Crowbard does, or indeed just use, as Rog does, a vivid imagination. I think I'd recommend the use of a pin in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica method whilst chanting Eeny Meanie (see above) miny MO method (it's as good as any).
Better luck next time,
Warm Regards, Mike.
P.s. I'm glad to see you're picking up the idea!!!!
P.s. There is a rule what I've just made up :- As you mention it - NO FULL EXPOSURE!
I was indeed referring to Eccles cake but trying to give the impression that I had gotten Eccles and Beccles mixed up. Although I've never seen an actual Eccles cake my impression is that it's more of a bite sized affair rather than an a real cake and therefor several could be stacked on even a six surface. But it's all moot now since it isn't a cake stand at all.
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