1950s Virginia Metalcrafters Brass Candlesticks, Pair

DESCRIPTION A pair of vintage heavy solid brass colonial style candlesticks, made in Waynesboro, Virginia by Virginia MetalCrafters. The candlesticks are hand crafted, hand finished and of the highest quality. Each candlestick is marked on the bottom with the VMC insignia and the model number 3017. The candlesticks measure approximately 10 3/4 inches tall and the base measures 5 1/2 inches at its widest. BIOGRAPHY OF MANUFACTURER Virginia Metalcrafters (VM) was founded in 1895 as the W. J. Loth Stove Company of Waynesboro, Virginia. VM initially manufactured cast iron stoves and wood and coal heaters. In 1938 William Loth installed a brass foundry and Virginia Metalcrafters became the brand name of the company’s brass and iron giftware line. VM produced historic reproductions for The Smithsonian, Mount Vernon, Historical Charleston...

Beautiful pair of brass spread-wing eagle bookends by Virginia Metalcrafters, stamped 1952. The eagle is shown with its wings fully spread and a laurel branch and bundle of arrows clutched in its left talon. The eagle clutches a Union shield across its breast. The Union shield has a chief with three stars and six stripes completing the design. The eagle motif in décor and Folk Art has been widely used throughout our nation's history, most notably as part of our Great Seal. The founders of the United States were fond of comparing their new republic with the Roman Republic, in which eagle imagery, usually the golden eagle, was prominent. On June 20, 1782, the Continental Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States depicting a bald eagle grasping 13 arrows and an olive branch with its talons. When Charles Thomson put together the final design for the Great Seal, he placed a bundle of arrows in the eagle's left (sinister) talon. The official description specifies the bald eagle holding "in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows." The thirteen arrows are tightly aligned – a symbol of "strength in unity" that's found in the traditional cultures everywhere, from the Romans to the Iroquois— in this case a nod to the unity of the original 13 colonies. William J. Loth founded Virginia Metalcrafters in 1890, under the name Waynesboro Stove Company. The company, which made ornately cast Cook...