Pair of Vintage Brass Candlesticks with Square Bases, Made in Hong Kong
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An 18th-century English design, cast for export in Hong Kong
This pair of vintage brass candlesticks with square bases is a common Hong Kong export design: a straight candle cup with a wide, flat drip rim, a stem turned in a stack of rings and knops over a long baluster, a round domed step and a thin flat square base. One base still has its green felt and a gold oval foil sticker printed "Made in Hong Kong" in black serif type inside a thin oval line. There's no maker's, importer's or store name on either candlestick, and none could be traced.
Hong Kong's metalware trade started in the 1920s, when Guangzhou businessmen opened factories there. After the war it boomed: the number of metal factories grew more than tenfold between 1950 and 1970, the United States became the biggest market by the 1970s, and the count peaked at about 6,000 factories in 1980. From the early 1980s production moved across the border to the Pearl River Delta, and by 1988 mainland China had replaced the US as the trade's largest market. A brass candlestick with a "Made in Hong Kong" sticker fits that 1960s-to-1980s window, though nothing on this pair gives a year.
The shape copies English brass candlesticks of the 1700s, which had baluster stems and square or stepped bases. Those originals were sand cast with the stem in two halves, brazed together and turned, so a vertical seam often shows. A museum record for a c.1715 English candlestick notes exactly that. Curators at the Historic Odessa Foundation treat a casting with no seam and no turning marks inside the base as a sign of manufacture a century or more later than the style. This pair is built the modern way: separate cast sections stacked on a threaded rod, with the rod end and a nut showing inside the hollow domed base.
Hong Kong pairs like this were sold under many importer and store names, usually with only a country sticker. Live listings show the same family of shapes from about 3⅜ to 12 inches tall, some with small feet at the corners of the base, and a seller lists one 9-inch pair as made for Lord & Taylor. The same style was also imported from Taiwan and India, and some American brass of the period, such as Harvin, carries the maker's name.
Hong Kong export, antique, plated or marked?
From this pair, museum records of early English candlesticks and live listings checked October 29, 2026. Turn the candlestick over first: the base tells you most.
| Version | Marks | Tells | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong export This pair | Foil "Made in Hong Kong" sticker, often on green felt | Hollow cast domed base; stem sections on a threaded rod with a nut underneath; crisp, even turning; no seam | About 3⅜–12 in. in listings |
| 18th-century English original Antique | Usually unmarked | Vertical casting seam on the stem, brazed; turning marks inside the base; wear softening the edges | Varies |
| Taiwan or India import Lookalike | "Taiwan" or "India" sticker or stamp | Same styles; check the label before assuming Hong Kong | Varies |
| Marked American brass Lookalike | Maker's name cast or stamped under the base, such as Harvin | A name instead of a country sticker | Varies |
| Brass-plated steel or zinc Cheaper copy | Any | A magnet sticks; light for its size; gray or silver metal where plating wears | Varies |
- Threaded rod. A nut or threaded rod end under the base means the candlestick was assembled from sections. Older candlesticks can be built this way too, so weigh it together with the sticker and the missing seam.
- Felt and sticker. A green felt pad with a foil country sticker is how Hong Kong pairs left the shop. Felt is often lost, as on one of these.
- Magnet test. Solid brass doesn't hold a magnet. If one sticks, it's brass-plated steel.
- Base shape. Some Hong Kong pairs have small feet at the corners of the square base. This pair's base is flat.
Ringed baluster stems on flat square bases
The pair is cast yellow brass (warm honey gold with a mellow brown tarnish) in the English baluster style. Each candlestick has a straight-sided candle cup with a ring at its foot and a wide, flat, round drip rim at the top. Below the cup the stem is turned in a stack of knops, rings and short balusters, then a long inverted baluster that swells toward the bottom, a ring, and a short knop above the base.
The base is a round domed step with two incised rings, set on a thin, flat square plinth with sharp corners. Underneath, the base is hollow and dome-shaped, with the threaded end of the stem rod and a round nut at the center. The bare metal inside is rough from casting.
- Cup: straight cylinder with a wide flat drip rim.
- Stem: stacked rings and knops over a long baluster; the two candlesticks match.
- Base: round domed step with two incised rings on a flat square plinth.
- Bottom: one has dark green felt with a gold oval sticker; the other shows the hollow cast dome, rough gray-brown metal and the rod end with its nut.
- Label: gold oval foil sticker, "Made in Hong Kong" in black serif type inside a thin oval line.
- This copy: even, unpolished tarnish with darker spots and a few rubbed brighter areas; felt missing on one base and worn at the edges on the other. No dents or bends show in the photos. Height wasn't measured.
Made in Hong KongGold oval foil sticker on the green felt of one base. No other marks on either candlestick.
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No other copies for sale right now
No listing could be confirmed as this same pair, checked October 29, 2026. About 17 Hong Kong square-base brass candlesticks were for sale on eBay at $16 to $50 a pair, but none could be matched to this mold; How to identify it shows what to compare.
About the Pair of Brass Candlesticks, Hong Kong
Who made these Hong Kong brass candlesticks?
The maker isn't marked and couldn't be traced. The only mark is a gold oval "Made in Hong Kong" sticker on the felt. Candlesticks like these were cast by Hong Kong metal workshops and sold in the US under many importer and store names, often with nothing but a country sticker.
How old are they?
Most likely the 1960s to the 1980s. Hong Kong's metalware trade grew more than tenfold from 1950 to 1970, the US was its biggest market in the 1970s, and production moved to mainland China from the early 1980s. There's no date on the pair.
Are they antique?
No. The design copies 18th-century English candlesticks, but those were cast in two halves and brazed, leaving a seam. These are cast in sections and bolted together on a threaded rod, and they carry a Hong Kong sticker.
Are they solid brass?
They look like cast brass: the bare metal inside the hollow base is brass-colored all the way through. A magnet test settles it; solid brass won't hold a magnet, and brass-plated steel will.
What are Hong Kong brass candlesticks worth?
On October 29, 2026, 17 live eBay listings of Hong Kong brass candlesticks with square bases asked about $16 to $50 a pair before shipping. These are asking prices, not sales.
Should I polish them?
That's taste. In the October 2026 listings, polished and tarnished pairs asked about the same. Since they aren't antiques, polishing doesn't destroy any age patina collectors pay for.
- Owner's photos of this pair, including both bottoms and the sticker
- Hong Kong Memory: Metalware industry, for the trade's 1920s start, its growth from 1950 to 1970, the US as its largest market in the 1970s, the 1980 peak, the move to the Pearl River Delta and China overtaking the US in 1988
- Museum of the Home: brass candlestick, c.1715, for sand casting, brazing and the visible stem seam on an early English baluster candlestick
- Historic Odessa Foundation: candlestick 1959.3558, for unseamed castings without turning marks as a sign of much later manufacture
- Appraisily: How to identify antique brass, for the magnet test and threaded-rod assembly turning up on older pieces too
- Chairish: Harvin brass candlestick, for a marked American maker of the period
- eBay: 12-inch Hong Kong pair, for the hollow base with a central threaded rod on a matching type
- eBay: 9-inch pair, listed as made for Lord & Taylor, Hong Kong
- eBay search for "brass candlesticks hong kong square base", giving 17 Hong Kong square-base listings among 108 results, with heights, Taiwan and India lookalikes and asking prices on October 29, 2026
- Etsy: new-old-stock Hong Kong pair with box, a plain unmarked shipping box with no importer name