Italian Pewter Candle Holder

I picked this up at a flea market in Cincinnati recently. Does anyone recognize the makers mark? Also, does anyone know the design function of this? It looks to have a notch to hold something, but looks that it would interfere with the candle? I found a pic of this exact piece on an Italian blog, but the article had nothing to do with the picture of the holder. I also saw one on etsy, but it appeared that they bent back and twisted the handle so the notch was up and they hung a candle snuffer on it, but it clearly was not meant to be that way. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks!