Torcheres or torchiere (tour-she-AIR or tour-SHARE) are usually a pair of large and important lighting fixtures that stand a few feet off the ground. Most of the time they depict figures of people and cherubs made in porcelain, bronze, marble and wood.
Torcheres do not have shades, although small shields are sometimes used on the individual candle lights.
Originally, torcheres were candelabra, usually with two or three lights. When it was first introduced in France towards the end of the 17th century the torchere mounted one candle only and when the number was doubled or tripled the improvement was regarded almost as a revolution in the lighting of large rooms.
Torcheres have metal spikes to hold candles. They are usually tall floor lamp with a bowl-shaped part that diffuses the light or directs it upward.
