Miners Candlesticks/Korea Model Thimble Closeup

Miners Candlesticks

Korea Model Thimble Closeup.jpg - KOREA MODEL - Rare fancy Korea model, steel with fancy silver inlay, marked on shaft KOREA in script on top and 1903 on side, 11 in. long, unique among few other known Korea models, number 155 in Wilson & Bobrink’s Collector’s Guide to Antique Miners’ Candlesticks; The Korea model shown here was found at Renningers Antiques Market (Denver, PA) during a collecting trip circa 1975. It was purchased from a Philadelphia dealer, the only mining item he had, ex-John Leahy collection (The Korea models are among the most attractive and unique of miners’ candlesticks. It is thought that a dozen or so examples, all different, exist in private and museum collections. All known examples are constructed of steel with excellent craftsmanship and inlaid with silver in oriental designs that include floral patterns, a butterfly, deer and other motifs. At least two examples are known to include gold inlay as well. Each is marked with the year and Korea. The earliest is marked 1903 and the latest 1915. Each example except one also shares a common problem with the stick design; the thumb tab is positioned opposite to that necessary to open the thimble while holding the stick in one hand. It is thought that all were made by Korean blacksmiths according to American designs. All share a common crosshatched surface similar to that of a file. Silver wire was inlaid on the surface and hammered into a continuous pattern. The history of the Korea model candlesticks is somewhat cloudy but thanks to Tony Moon, the origin of these sticks has been identified. The following is based on Tony’s research presented in Wilson and Bobrink’s A Collector’s Guide to Antique Miners’ Candlesticks, pp 76-77. The first foreign mining concession in Korea was granted in 1895 to an American named James R. Morse, who merged with two other companies in 1901 to form the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company. This concession, known as the Unsan Mines, was the only American mining presence in Korea during the early 1900s and apparently the only successful one among the other foreign concessions granted by Korea. It is fairly certain that the source of the Korea model candlesticks is the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company. The company operated a number of different mines located approximately 25 miles north-northeast of the city of Anju in present-day North Korea. As of 1903, the date of the earliest Korea model candlestick, the company employed nearly 7000 Koreans and 70 Americans producing $1.5 million in gold. The Americans provided the engineering and mining guidance to the Koreans that resulted in a successful enterprise that by 1916 had produced nearly $30 million in gold. It is believed that the Korea model candlesticks were made as presentation pieces for the American mine managers and/or executives upon completion of their stints in Korea for the company. By 1939, when the Americans had sold out their interests to the Japanese, the Unsan Mines had become the most lucrative enterprise of its kind in Asia. For additional information on the Unsan Mines, see Commercial Relations of the United States with Foreign Countries during the Year 1907 – Vol. I North and South America, Asia, Australasia and Africa, U. S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor, Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1908, pp 499-501)

Korea Model Thimble Closeup | KOREA MODEL - Rare fancy Korea model, steel with fancy silver inlay, marked on shaft KOREA in script on top and 1903 on side, 11 in. long, unique among few other known Korea models, number 155 in Wilson & Bobrink’s Collector’s Guide to Antique Miners’ Candlesticks; The Korea model shown here was found at Renningers Antiques Market (Denver, PA) during a collecting trip circa 1975. It was purchased from a Philadelphia dealer, the only mining item he had, ex-John Leahy collection (The Korea models are among the most attractive and unique of miners’ candlesticks. It is thought that a dozen or so examples, all different, exist in private and museum collections. All known examples are constructed of steel with excellent craftsmanship and inlaid with silver in oriental designs that include floral patterns, a butterfly, deer and other motifs. At least two examples are known to include gold inlay as well. Each is marked with the year and Korea. The earliest is marked 1903 and the latest 1915. Each example except one also shares a common problem with the stick design; the thumb tab is positioned opposite to that necessary to open the thimble while holding the stick in one hand. It is thought that all were made by Korean blacksmiths according to American designs. All share a common crosshatched surface similar to that of a file. Silver wire was inlaid on the surface and hammered into a continuous pattern. The history of the Korea model candlesticks is somewhat cloudy but thanks to Tony Moon, the origin of these sticks has been identified. The following is based on Tony’s research presented in Wilson and Bobrink’s A Collector’s Guide to Antique Miners’ Candlesticks, pp 76-77. The first foreign mining concession in Korea was granted in 1895 to an American named James R. Morse, who merged with two other companies in 1901 to form the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company. This concession, known as the Unsan Mines, was the only American mining presence in Korea during the early 1900s and apparently the only successful one among the other foreign concessions granted by Korea. It is fairly certain that the source of the Korea model candlesticks is the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company. The company operated a number of different mines located approximately 25 miles north-northeast of the city of Anju in present-day North Korea. As of 1903, the date of the earliest Korea model candlestick, the company employed nearly 7000 Koreans and 70 Americans producing $1.5 million in gold. The Americans provided the engineering and mining guidance to the Koreans that resulted in a successful enterprise that by 1916 had produced nearly $30 million in gold. It is believed that the Korea model candlesticks were made as presentation pieces for the American mine managers and/or executives upon completion of their stints in Korea for the company. By 1939, when the Americans had sold out their interests to the Japanese, the Unsan Mines had become the most lucrative enterprise of its kind in Asia. For additional information on the Unsan Mines, see Commercial Relations of the United States with Foreign Countries during the Year 1907 – Vol. I North and South America, Asia, Australasia and Africa, U. S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor, Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1908, pp 499-501)

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