The Story Behind the Speckled Candle Jar

The speckled glaze on these jars looks like a modern decorating choice, but the technique behind it is genuinely old. Potters in Staffordshire, England were producing spattered and sponge-decorated stoneware as far back as the mid-1700s, blowing or dabbing colour onto plain earthenware to make it more durable and easier to sell. It travelled to Scotland, then across to America by the 1840s, where it became a staple of ordinary, affordable kitchenware for over a century. What was once a practical way to dress up an everyday plate has ended up, a couple of hundred years later, as the finish on a candle jar — which feels like a fitting continuity for an object that’s meant for daily use rather than display.

Each candle is made of plant-based wax, poured for a steady, even burn, and a ceramic vessel. The scent is deliberately restrained rather than heavy: Gardenia in the black jar, soft and creamy; White Tea in the blue, clean and understated; Little Freesia in the yellow, light and faintly sweet. None of them are designed to fill a room so much as settle into it.

A few basics keep the burn even: trim the wick to 5mm before lighting, and on the first burn let the wax melt out to the edges of the jar — around two to three hours — so it doesn’t tunnel down the middle on future burns. Keep burns under four hours at a time, away from draughts, and on a heat-resistant surface.

Once the wax is gone, the jar doesn’t have to be. It’s sturdy enough to hold pens, brushes, or anything small worth keeping somewhere decent-looking.

You can find the jar candles, in all three scents, in the shop – click on the image below.

THE SLOW BURN OF AN EVENING RITUAL

Not every table needs a full-length taper. Sometimes what’s useful is something shorter — easier to fit into a low holder, easier to group two or three together without crowding the surface. That’s the reasoning behind our stubby candles.

Each one is made from plant-based wax and finished with the same smooth taper as our standard candles, just scaled down: 110mm in height, 22mm across — about 4.5 inches tall. Burned correctly and kept out of draughts, they hold a steady flame for roughly four hours and are built to burn without dripping. They’re sold as a loose pair, so you can light both together or keep one back.

The smaller size is what makes them practical rather than just decorative. They sit well in shallow or narrow holders that a full taper won’t fit, work in pairs down the centre of a table, or stand alone somewhere a taller candle would look out of place — a low shelf, a bedside table, a smaller dinner setting.

A few basics keep them burning cleanly: trim the wick to about 5mm before lighting, set them in a stable, heat-resistant holder, and don’t let them burn for longer than four hours at a stretch. Full care and safety details are listed on the product page.

Interesting fact: before mechanical clocks, marked candles were used to tell time — the even burn rate meant hour-lines scored along the length actually worked as a timer.

You can find the stubby candles, sold as a pair, in the shop – just click on the image below.