An antique mid 19th century silver plated candle snuffer and tray with chased foliate decoration,1850’s. I love thee styled on top of your coffee table books close to a candle.Before the creation of modern lighting, candlelight played a crucial role, and maintaining a properly functioning candle was very important. The wicks were often unreliable, and the wax was typically made from old animal fat. Candle snuffers were essential tools for the household, not just for extinguishing the flame but also for trimming excess wick. The sharp point of the snuffer was used to dig out any burnt pieces of wick that had fallen into the hot wax, ensuring the candle burned cleanly. The snuffer also featured a small box designed to catch the “snuffs”—the trimmed wick bits—while a separate snuff pan or dish provided a safe place to rest the greasy snuffer (since the candles were made from animal fat). This scissor-and-snuffer-tray combo was commonly used between 1680 and the 1850s. However, with the invention of the paraffin candle around 1825, which had wicks that didn’t smoke and self-consumed, the need for these tools faded, and the scissor-snuffer-tray combo was eventually abandoned.