Candle Makers in a Wooden Workshop

Inside a timber-beamed workshop hung with folk-patterned rugs, candle makers pour colored wax into carved wooden molds shaped like slender tapers. One man tips a bucket of blue wax across a row of molds while another stirs a pot of molten gold wax with two long dipping rods. A third worker trims a finished pillar candle at a side bench, and a young woman inspects rows of striped and diamond-patterned candles along the back wall. Spools of wick thread, jars of dye, and bundles of raw wicks sit within reach on every table, and a small bird perches on the rafters above pots of hydrangea. Each candle cooling on the shelves carries its own zigzag or lattice design, waiting to be told apart from its neighbor by color alone.