Welcome

Gathering the Jewels features over 30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales.

Search the map

Thumbnail image of Wales,

New to Gathering the Jewels is G.I.S. A geographical search facility that will enable searching by location and place name.

Topics

Home » The Domestic Sphere » Furniture and objects » Candles

Displaying results 1 to 6 out of 6

Page 1

  • Rushlights were widely used in parts of Wales until the 20th century. Rushes were gathered in summer and peeled so that only a narrow strip of the peel remained to support the pith. The rushes were then drawn (in a gresset) through scalding grease until saturated and ready for use when cool.
Standing rushlight and candle holder, 19th century
  • These rushlight holders were made by Isaac Jones (1830-1896) also known as Isaac Jones y Gof, from Pompen Geifr, Tal-y-bont, Cardiganshire. Rushlights were widely used in parts of Wales until the 20th century. Rushes were gathered in summer and peeled so that only a narrow strip of the peel to support the pith remained. The rushes were then drawn (in a gresset) through scalding grease until saturated and ready for use when cool.
Rushlight and candle holder, Tal-y-bont, c. 1850 - 1880
  • Rushlights were widely used in parts of Wales until the 20th century. The two on the left were manufactured in Caernarfonshire in the mid to late 19th century; and the copper holder was made in Cardiganshire during the 19th century.
Rushlight holders, Cardiganshire and Caernarfonshire, mid to late 19th century
  • This postcard was produced by the 'Excelsior Photo Co. Ltd.', Carmarthen and is postmarked 1906. It features a photograph of three women making candles at Abergorlech in 1895 (the photographer being David Thomas, turner, of Tan'r allt, Brechfa). The elderly woman is Hannah Jones, Banc, Abergorlech, pictured here with two of the maid servants on her farm. She is wearing the flannel clothing and tall beaver hat associated with 'traditional Welsh costume'. By this date, however, it would have been an increasingly rare occurrence to see a woman in this garb, even in the rural districts of Wales. It may well be that, on this occasion, the elderly lady donned the clothes which were fashionable during her youth purely for the benefit of the camera. The women are making a supply of tallow candles, probably for their own domestic use (although women often manufactured candles for retail purposes). Tallow candles were used during the Middle Ages and continued to be made until the early twentieth century. The simplest way of making these candles was to take narrow bands of linen, tie about six or eight of them to a wooden rod and then dip them in a vat of boiling tallow. The process was repeated many times until the tallowed strip had attained the proportions of a candle. Sources: Iorwerth C. Peate, 'Tradition and Folk Life. A Welsh View' (London: Faber and Faber, 1972), p. 59 and F. G. Payne, 'Welsh Peasant Costume' in ' Folk Life', Vol. II (1964), p. 53.
Candle making at Abergorlech, 1895
  • Presented to William Walters, Mayor of Haverfordwest by the South Wales Railway Company in 1853.
Silver candelabra, 1853
  • On this page she records her admiration of a device used by a Mr Heidegger in the hall that lit 1800 candles in less than three minutes.
Letter from Mary Granville on the coronation of George II, October 1727 [page 2 of 4]