{{Short description|Device used to hold a candle in place}} {{Other uses}} [[File:Candlestick (one of a set of eight) MET DP-13265-131.jpg|thumb|250x250px|British Neoclassical silver candlestick, 1774–1775; overall height: 29.5 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City).]] A '''candlestick''' (or '''candleholder''') is a device used to hold a candle upright in place.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Candlestick|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candlestick|website=Merriam-Webster|access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref> Most candlesticks have a cup, a spike (called a "pricket"), or both to secure the candle.
Before the widespread adoption of electricity, candles were carried between rooms using a '''chamberstick'''—a short candlestick with a pan to catch dripping wax.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Snowdon|first=Louise|date=August 10, 2017|title=What is a Chamberstick?|url=https://www.acsilver.co.uk/acsnews/2017/08/10/chamberstick-definition/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818064104/http://www.acsilver.co.uk/acsnews/2017/08/10/chamberstick-definition/|archive-date=2017-08-18|website=AC Silver|access-date=2021-01-12}}</ref>
Although electric lighting has largely replaced candles in daily use, candlesticks and candelabras remain common as decorative objects or for creating ambience during special occasions such as dinners, religious ceremonies, and commemorations.{{cn|date=September 2025}}
== Religious use == {{Main|Altar candle}}{{See also|Ceremonial use of lights}} [[File:Gloucester candlestick.jpg|thumb|The 12th-century Gloucester Candlestick, noted for its intricate Romanesque design.]] Candles and candlesticks are widely used in religious rituals as both functional and symbolic lights.
In Judaism, two candles are lit to mark the beginning of the Sabbath each Friday evening, and candlesticks are often displayed prominently in homes. A seven-branched candelabra, known as the menorah, is a national symbol of the State of Israel, modeled after the candelabrum once used in the Temple in Jerusalem. Another common Jewish candelabra is the Hanukiah, the special Hanukkah menorah with eight branches and a ninth candle for lighting the others.
Tall candlesticks and altar lamps are also found in many Christian churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01350a.htm|title=''Catholic Encyclopedia'': Altar Candlesticks|access-date=14 October 2014}}</ref>
In Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, bishops use the dikirion and trikirion—two- and three-branched candlesticks—to bless congregations during worship. A triple candlestick was also used in the Catholic Church before 1955.
== See also == * Bobèche * Gloucester Candlestick * Hogscraper candlestick
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{EB1911 poster|Candlestick}} * {{Commons category-inline|Candlesticks}} *[https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/types/35237609/ Candlesticks at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum] *[https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/advanced_search/query?type=3&title=&keywords=&min_rating=0&max_rating=5&style=+&collection_area=+&medium=&support=&classification=candlestick&artist=&artist_nationality=+&credit_line=&collection_identifier=&date_created=&location=+&author_lookup=&author_id=0 Candlesticks at the University of Michigan Museum of Art] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219084338/https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/advanced_search/query?type=3&title=&keywords=&min_rating=0&max_rating=5&style=+&collection_area=+&medium=&support=&classification=candlestick&artist=&artist_nationality=+&credit_line=&collection_identifier=&date_created=&location=+&author_lookup=&author_id=0 |date=2021-12-19 }} *[https://www.artsbma.org/object_name/candlesticks/ Candlesticks at the Birmingham Museum of Art] *[https://www.dia.org/art/collection?keys=candlesticks Candlesticks at the Detroit Institute of Arts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219085848/https://www.dia.org/art/collection?keys=candlesticks |date=2021-12-19 }}
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Category:Candles Category:Lighting Category:Holders