These elegant tiny tapers from Denmark in a vintage Spider cast-iron candelabra light up the holidays on your table or buffet. They are handmade using the original techniques and formula from the 1960s that assure you a two-hour burn that is smokeless and dripless. I love mine!
This vintage candelabra and the 15-inch tiny taper candles are the perfect addition to the new, minimalist looks that many people have designed into their homes. And they look great even in my non-minimalist home, where I live amidst a variety of hand-me-down furniture…I think this candelabra looks great on my English walnut buffet!
What led to my enthusiastic and nostalgic discovery? My mother gave me her once-prized Jens H. Quistgaard Spider candleholder and an old box of tiny tapers. I found out through my Google search, that the 12-hole, cast-iron candelabra was designed by Quistgaard for Danish Dansk in 1963. I was glad to put it back to use after it had been gathering dust in mother’s drawer in the living room for 25 years or more.
I remember and now share in my mother’s excitement–some 50 years ago now–over this Danish Dansk candelabra. At the time she bought it, it was newly designed and although aesthetically pleasing it seemed out of step with her love of antique furniture, such as our love seats with carved-wooden lion heads covered in pale blue and pale green velvet.
The tapers were burned regularly in the Spider candelabra at parties when company was visiting our home on Muirland Street in Detroit in the late 1960s. In attendance, as at all my parents’ parties, were local luminaries, most memorably, Detroit-area writer Joyce Carol Oates and my father, Anthony Ripley, who was then assistant to the mayor of Detroit, Jerome P. Cavanaugh. All happily chatted during cocktails as we young children sat on the staircase in our pajamas, ready for bed, peering carefully through the spindles as my mother and father welcomed guests into the house. Once we were noticed, we were shushed upstairs as the guests would stream into the dining room for dinner.
But, I digress. When we moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1969 my mother went to May – D&F to stock up on the tiny Danish tapers and continued to burn them in the Spider. The price for 12 tiny tapers made in Denmark was $1.20. How is that cheap a price even possible when you consider they were made in Denmark and shipped to the U.S. for sale? Wow. They are now offered at the much more reasonable price of $1.50 per handmade taper.
Fast forward to early December 2018. After identifying the name of the cast-iron candelabra, I found Danish Vintage Design. I was glad to find them as they are the only company to sell these tapers. What a wonderful company with great customer service!
These tiny, 15-inch-long tapers are made by only one candlemaker named ElseMarie Haulund of Lysmageren, Denmark, who uses original formulas and techniques that create their dripless, smokeless reputation. And she only makes them for Houston, the friendly and conscientious owner of Danish Vintage Design. These tapers are available for $18.05 for a box of 12 from Danish Vintage Design’s Etsy Shop. You can also purchase two of the Spider cast-iron candelabras for $135.47, which includes candles from Houston’s plus international, insured shipping. I received my candles within a few days. Light up your holidays!
Note: This is not a sponsored promotion and Food for the Ages did not receive any free candles, candelabra or consideration from Houston, the friendly and efficient proprietor of Danish Vintage Design. I am just really excited about the look and feel of these candles and candelabra. And I think you will be too!
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