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  • Arts & Culture
  • Issue 46

Object Matters

An unperfumed history of the scented candle. Words by Rachel Connolly. Photograph by Christian Møller Andersen. Courtesy of Menu.

For a long time, candles were an essential light source, but they weren’t particularly appealing as objects. In many early civilizations, candles were made from animal fat and burned with greasy, sooty smoke and a pungent sour smell; during the Middle Ages, several European cities even banned making them because of their polluting qualities. Early Japanese candles were an exception: They were made by boiling the fruit from cinnamon trees, and produced a sweet smell. These were the earliest “scented”

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This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-Six

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