How to decommission an old sconce safely?

[blondrob]

I just moved into my family's one century old house, and it has a mix of old and new wiring
I pulled an old wall sconce off, expecting a proper junction box to cap the wires, but nope, just two wires sticking right out of the plaster!
How can I safely kill this connection and decommission these old light wires so I can patch and paint the wall?

 

[Kn0x]

you need to completely de-energize the circuit at the electrical panel and, remove the cable entirely, if possible. If the wires are fully disconnected from the power source at both ends and cut short within the wall, they can be safely abandoned in place

 

[Kenneth2025]

How can I safely kill this connection and decommission these old light wires so I can patch and paint the wall?

The most effective solution is to disconnect the wires upstream while the circuit is safely off. or you can switch off the circuit and carefully install a nonmetallic old work box with built in cable clamps

 

[PGB1]

If the wires are to remain abandoned in the wall, a good idea is to label both ends as "Abandoned" and to state where the other end is located. This mayhelp someone in the future.

 

[blondrob]

OP, if you're struggling to find where those wires are fed from, try turning off the breaker and using a circuit tracer. Once you identify the circuit, open up the nearest working light switch or outlet
if you see the other end of those old cloth wires in that box, you can disconnect them there, label them ABANDONED, and then you're free to bury the wall side ends without worry.

 

[Alan]

In a 100 year old house with mixed wiring, two conductors out of plaster is a big red flag. The safe answer is you don’t want to bury live splices or loose conductors behind patch and paint. The right move is to trace that run to the nearest accessible junction point and properly terminate it in an approved box with a cover, or remove the run back to the source. If you’re not 100 percent sure what’s feeding it, this is a good time to bring in a licensed electrician for an hour.