A few years back I was at a yard sale and spied a great set of Mid-Century Modern (MCM) candlesticks.  I picked them up for just a couple of bucks and they’ve been in my living room ever since.  The other day while scouring eBay for some MCM sconces and saw a set of candlesticks that looked just like mine under the heading “Rude Osolnik Originals candlesticks”.

Rude Osolnik was considered one of the finest wood turners in America.  He passed away in 2001.  He was prolific and believed that it was far more important for art to be in the hands of ordinary people rather than collectors.  Regardless he has work in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Atlanta’s High Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Knowing all of this I got very excited and after some research I found out that original Rude Osolnik candle sticks were signed on the bottom felt with an interlocking double O.  So I grabbed my candlesticks, with much anticipation and not much hope, flipped them over and low and there it was the signature “OO”.  I’m so excited.  We are the proud owners of two original Rude Osolnik candlesticks.