How did candle sockets change candlestick design during the Middle Ages?

During the Middle Ages, the introduction of the candle socket provided an alternative to the traditional pricket—a spike upon which the base of a candle was impaled. While the pricket remained in use, the socket allowed for a different method of securing the candle, and by the late medieval period, it was common to find candlesticks featuring both prickets and sockets on a single stem.1

The adoption of the socket influenced design by necessitating features to manage wax runoff, such as the integration of drip pans. For instance, candlebeams—structures composed of crossed wooden beams—were specifically fitted with both sockets and drip pans to catch melting wax. Additionally, as the brass-founding industry developed, makers began producing standardized candlesticks with circular molded stems and spreading bases that could accommodate these new socket designs. Even as these functional changes occurred, the socket did not immediately replace the pricket, and both designs continued to coexist in various ecclesiastical and domestic settings throughout the era.1