Our gold angel candle holders are 10 inches tall. The gold angel candle holders are holding a white dove in the palm of her hand. These porcelain angels have a candle holder on their back just below their wings. The candle holder will hold a taper candle. There is also a winding mechanism on the bottom of the angel that allows her to play “Oh Holy Night.” The angel candle holder is wearing an ivory gown with gold trim around the collar, cuffs and hem. There are dove cutouts around the skirt. The angel’s wings are highlighted with gold. Select this link to view our selection of Music Boxes.
Note: Do Not Over Wind. Over winding will lock or damage the music box mechanism.
Angels.
Literally messengers, these emissaries of God play an important role in the Nativity and subsequent Christmas celebrations through the ages. It is the angel Gabriel, who begins the Nativity story by his appearance in ancient Palestine to announce a remarkable pair of births. To an elderly couple, beyond the normal years of parenthood, he announces that they will have a son who is to be called John (later known as the Baptist). To a young virgin, Mary, kin to the first couple, Gabriel announces that she has found favor with God and will bear a child engendered by the Holy Spirit. In order that Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, does not repudiate her, the angel fills him in on the divine secret. When, at length, the child is born in Bethlehem, a great host of angels announces the news to shepherds in nearby fields. When the local ruler, Herod, appears bent on murdering the child, an angel warns the family to flee to Egypt and advises them later that it is safe to return.
Angels have long been symbols of Christmas in the form of ornaments, especially as tree toppers. Christmas cookies are baked in angel shapes. In Lithuania the traditional wafer is termed bread of the angels. They have always been a popular theme on Christmas cards and are indispensable in manger scenes where they hover over the stable. Henry Suso dreamt that angels came to comfort him, took him by the hand and led him in a dance while one sang “In Dolci Jubilo.” When he woke he wrote the music down in the form of a carol, which became “Good Christian Men Rejoice”. Angels have been the subject of Christmas music in many lands, particularly in their role as annunciators of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. From France came Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes, which has been translated into English as “Angels From The Realms of Glory.” From Moravia we have “Angels and Shepherds.” From England, “Angels We Have Heard on High“, “Hark The Herald Angels Sing“, and “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night.” American angel carols include “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.”
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Shepherds:
Long before man began to write history, shepherds watched the flocks, in the fields, to guard them against wild animals. Sheep generally wandered around from one place to another, through the villages and around them, looking for grass to eat under the care of a shepherd. The raising of sheep was a critical part of the Holy Lands social and agricultural system. They were part of the intricate sacrificial system that governed religious life at the time of Christ’s birth. Often shepherds were children, sometimes groups of children. The shepherd's job was to protect, feed, and provided shelter and direction for their flock. A shepherd would also lay down his life for his flock.
The shepherds of biblical times carried staffs to guide their flocks in times of danger. The staff was also a formidable weapon when the shepherd used it to defend the flock. Shepherd’s also carried a rod that was about a meter long and had a knob on the end. This was used to count the sheep. The shepherd’s daily routine involved calling forth the flock in the morning. The sheep would actually recognize the shepherd’s voice. He would then watch the flock with the help of dogs, much the same as shepherds today do. If any sheep would stray the shepherd would follow it until it was brought back to the flock. He would also provide the flock with water either by leading them to a stream or at troughs attached to wells.
In the evening, the shepherd would call the flock back to the sheepfold. A sheepfold is an enclosure or pen for sheep. Usually the walls of the sheepfold were made of stone. As the shepherd led the sheep back to the fold, he would count them to make sure that all had returned. He would count them by having them pass under his rod. During the evening the shepherd would watch the entrance to the fold to ensure that none of the flock would be endangered.