Erin,
It sounds like a candle box. Candle boxes were fairly common household objects in the Colonial period, which fits your date.  They were used to protect the tallow candles from rodents who liked to nibble on them.  As for the tapered wooden sticks inside, they might be candle wood. I've never actually seen candle wood, so I couldn't say for sure.
 
Here is what Arthur Hayward says about candle wood in "Colonial and Early American Lighting" 1962 Dover Publications:
 
"Pieces of the resinous pitch pine, so common all along the wooded New England coast, were cut in length and size not unlike large candles and stuck between the stones of the curde fireplaces on in improvised holders.  They burned freely, giving quite a bright flame with, however considerable smoke; and since the only expense was the time and trouble of cutting and drying the wood, they were used very generally for many years.  It was common at night to see the family gathered round the big stone fireplace, often in the only room of comfortable size in the crude log house. On the hearth a fire of huge logs brskly burned, and two or three of the resinous candle-wood torches--either stuck in thes ides of the fireplace betweenthe stones, or standing upright on the hearth--supplemented the light from the burning logs. . . ."  (page 12)
 
Below is a link to a picture of a candle box currently on Ebay. Maybe it will help you.
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/Wonderful-Antique-Wood-Candle-Box-Candlebox_W0QQitemZ7353192107QQcategoryZ37943QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 

Edith W. Brady
Curator of Education
High Point Museum
1859 E. Lexington Ave.
High Point, NC  27262
(336) 885-1859
(336) 883-3284 fax
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