The square-back sconce (left) dates back to the 1700s and is patterned after one that hangs in the Card Room of the Red Lion Inn near Philadelphia where it is rumored that Benjamin Franklin played an occasional game of cards. The reflector back measures nine by eleven inches – quite possibly so sized since the entire sconce could have been made from one a single sheet of tinplate.

The fleur-de-lis sconce (center) is patterned after a pair on display in the study at Washington’s Headquarters in Rock Hill, Rockingham, New Jersey.

The rectangular-back sconce (right) is an adaptation of the sconce on the left. Its slim lines give it an air of elegance. A hand-forged nail is supplied with each sconce for hanging.

It is interesting to note that on all of these sconces the hole from which the sconce is hung is punched from the rear, thus forming a lip to the front that helps prevent the sconce from slipping off the nail that suspends it. Also, it was common to provide a slit in the candle socket. The slit would have made it easier to remove the candle stub that would have then been burned, until consumed, in a small candleholder referred to as a “save-all.” A typical home in the 1800s would have had no more than a total of three or four candleholders.