This year we decided to make July a ‘rest month’ – but that doesn’t mean that we’ve been loafing about watching the tennis and the cricket. Certainly not! We’ve taken a rest from shows this month and dedicated ourselves to spending some much needed time in the workshop, making pieces and indulging in some new designs (watch this space…).
Our workshop Pin-Up this month has to be the ‘Classic Candlestick’. Amid the exciting stages of prototyping new designs and seeking out new shows to exhibit them at, we’ve found ourselves returning to this soothingly simple yet pleasingly elegant piece, proving that not all the best designs are the most complicated. Indeed, the Classic Candlestick is so simple that is almost a line-drawing rendered in 3-D in sterling silver.
It incorporates all of the core techniques that dictate the day-to-day activity of our workshop: hot-forging, soldering and the use of hand-made wooden jigs to perfect curves and bends in the metal.
It fulfils, what we feel, are the key criteria for any good candlestick design: stability and the ability to present a candle – but at the same time brings something extraordinary to the table. In many ways it is ‘wick-to-base’ the very model of a traditional candlestick! As with many of our designs, however, it can be arranged together with a partner or even as a set of 4 to form more complex modular structures that transform it into a contemporary centrepiece.
Naturally we test all of our pieces in the workshop before they go to be hallmarked and playing around with our freshly forged batch of 4 candlesticks this week has made us really examine what we mean when we describe something as ‘classic’. Classic means a respect for tradition without being old-fashioned, embracing what is modern without losing sight of established fundamentals – in short, an object of enduring interest, quality and style.
The Classic Candlesticks will be available to view and buy at our next show, the Cornwall Design Fair from 14th-16th August at Trereife House near Penzance.
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