Antique U.S. Cavalry Candlesticks made from Brass Helmet Plume Sockets

Offered is a pair of antique wooden candlesticks made from the brass plume socket of a U.S. Cavalry helmet. This is a unique find for collectors of U.S. Cavalry items. The maker rightly calls these candle sticks 'a useful curio'. The plume sockets came from late 1800's Cavalry helmets. The socket features an American Eagle with a traditional shield and a cluster of oak leaves.

One of the candlesticks has a paper label telling the story and it pictures the helmet. Fragments of the label are missing but it is easy to fill in the blanks. It reads: 'This Candle Stick is made from.....et Plume Socket (as shown on above cut) sty...worn by Officers and Privates of the U.S. Army...70 to 1890. By mounting this Plume Socket on a mahogany base, with a small cup at the top to hold candle, and being connected together with a steel rod, makes a very ornamental and useful curio . '

Of course, these are wonderful candlesticks for a lighting collector as well!

DATE: c. 1900
CONDITION: Excellent
MEASUREMENTS: One stick is 6 inches tall, the other is 6 ¼ inches tall. The bases measure 4 inches in diameter.