Crocodile Brighton Buns

A pair of crocodile skin on nickel Brighton Bun Travelling Candlesticks.

We have had a few sets of leather Brighton Buns before but this is the first pair of crocodile. We knew that they existed thanks to the Army & Navy CSL catalogue of 1907 which offered 'Travelling Candlesticks' covered in Russian leather, crocodile leather, brass and silver. These candlesticks have the same diameter of 3 3/8 inch as the smallest size that they offered.

They are made of pressed metal with the crocodile skin glued to the outside of the dish and tucked under the metal lip to the edge. At the original time of sale they were offered in two sizes, with the second 3 7/8 inch and aside from silver, were the most expensive the offered at 4/6 and 5/0.

The candlesticks breakdown for travel by unscrewing the sconces, one of which has a bolt fitting and the other a nut, as do the two dishes. The dishes are screwed together with the sconces sitting inside the bun shape that they form.

The reason for their scarcity could be due to a couple of reasons: they were not as popular due to their price which was more than twice that of plain brass ones and it maybe that the crocodile has been removed or come off over time. We have certainly seen examples with their leather or crocodile removed. We hesitate to describe items as rare but as this is the first pair we have seen in nearly 25 years of searching, I think it is justified. Circa 1900.