Medieval candlestock
17 January 2026 09:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sister_raphaelThis is a sweet candle stock... that is, a smaller candle sits in the top to burn, and the rest of it is decorative. If I wanted to recreate this, what paint would be best? This is the quandary I found myself in this week.
Whilst some are made of wood, this one is made of wax and gold leaf. Dated at the early 14th century from England. Height is 550mm.
This is what the British Museum has to say about it:
Here's some information about candlestocks from Alexander & Binski 1987 from The Age of Chivalry. Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400 (no128)
Anyway, the question remains as to what kind of paint I should use which won't just wipe off. We had a lively discussion on fb which wasn't quite as helpful as I'd hoped, with most suggestions centering on traditional recipes for paint, which I already have. There aren't specifically used for painting on wax, though.
One helpful person did say that there is a specific modern paint for painting candles, so that is now my line on enquiry. Of course, I could just make one from wood and paint it up to match and coat it with wax so it has the appearance of being wax.
Whilst some are made of wood, this one is made of wax and gold leaf. Dated at the early 14th century from England. Height is 550mm.
This is what the British Museum has to say about it:
Candle-stock; tubular, tapering at the top; wax, painted and gilded. Decorated with a pattern of six and a half spirals. The decoration comprises firstly, a green line bordered with gilding, on each side of the gilding flower petals in red, on each side of the petals a gilt naturalistic vine scroll, itself bordered by gilding; damage and wear of the decorative pattern at the top.
Here's some information about candlestocks from Alexander & Binski 1987 from The Age of Chivalry. Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400 (no128)
A candlestock stood on a pricket candlestick and supported, with the aid of a metal fitting on the top, a smaller wax candle which could be replaced when necessary. The intention, since the candlestock was tapered, was to give the impression that very large candles were being burnt. This candlestock and another [belonging to the Master and Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge, on loan to the Fitzwilliam Museum] are without parallel and present a remarkable survival of a decorative altar fitting in wax. The naturalistic vine scroll suggests a date at the very end of the thirteenth century or the beginning of the fourteenth century. A representation of a similar candlestock appears in an early fourteenth century manuscript. The candles used by Queen Eleanor of Castile were coloured with various substances including vermilion and green. In her wardrobe account for December 1289 there is a reference to a purchase of 10 lb of verdigris at 7 d per lb, which was passed to Alexander the chandler.
Bibliographic references.
Bibliographic references.
Anyway, the question remains as to what kind of paint I should use which won't just wipe off. We had a lively discussion on fb which wasn't quite as helpful as I'd hoped, with most suggestions centering on traditional recipes for paint, which I already have. There aren't specifically used for painting on wax, though.
One helpful person did say that there is a specific modern paint for painting candles, so that is now my line on enquiry. Of course, I could just make one from wood and paint it up to match and coat it with wax so it has the appearance of being wax.
