One of the local churches was doing housecleaning, recently, and the
trustees found a tall (5') fixture of handwrought iron and turned wooden
balusters with two surviving arms.  The arms have loops at the end that may
have held (I'm guessing) some sort of dish for oil. The top baluster has
holes also, but no existing arms  and an attached hook.  I'm also guessing
that it was attached to a chain that could be pulled up and down for the
thing to be lit.
The whole piece was painted black with gold details, in keeping with the mid
19th century toleware/document box kind of decoration.
A new church building was constructed in the late 1850s -- the church as an
institution itself dates to the mid 18th century.  It's a country church --
almost frontier for PA in the mid 18th century, even though only an hour
from Philadelphia.
Can anybody think of comparables?  I'm guessing that the light came from the
pre 1850s building, but is not 18th century...but it's anybody's guess.
Suggestions welcome!
Candace Perry
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center

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