candelabrum Prior to the invention of candles, ancient people used open fire, torches, splinters of resinous wood, and lamps to provide artificial illumination at night. Primitive
oil lamps in which a lit wick rested in a pool of oil or fat were used from the
Paleolithic period, and pottery and stone lamps from the
Neolithic period have been found. Because candle making requires a reliable supply of animal or vegetable fats, it is certain that candles could not have developed before the early
Bronze Age; however, it is unclear when and where candles were first used. Objects that could be candlesticks have been found in
Babylonian and middle
Minoan cultures, as well in the
tomb of Tutankhamun. The "candles" used in these early periods would not have resembled the current forms; more likely they were made of plant materials dipped in animal fat. Early evidence of candle use may be found in Italy, where a depiction of a candlestick exists in an
Etruscan tomb at
Orvieto, and the earliest excavated Etruscan candlestick dates from the 7th century BC. Candles may have evolved from
taper with wick of
oakum and other plant fibre soaked in fat, pitch or oil and burned in lamps or pots. Candles of antiquity were made from various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax, and
Romans made true dipped candles from
tallow and beeswax. Beeswax candles were expensive and their use was limited to the wealthy, so oil lamps were the more commonly used lighting devices in Roman times.
Ancient Greece used torches and oil lamps, and likely adopted candle use in a later period from Rome. Early record in China suggests that candles were used in the
Qin dynasty before 200 BC. These early Chinese candles may have been made from whale fat. in
Jerusalem In Christianity, candles gained significance in their decorative, symbolic and
ceremonial uses in churches. Wax candles, or
candela cerea recorded at the end of the 3rd century, were documented as
Easter candles in Spain and Italy in the fourth century, the Christian festival
Candlemas was named after it, and
Pope Sergius I instituted the procession of lighted candles.
Papal bulls decreed that tallow be excluded for use in altar candles, and a high beeswax content is necessary for candles of the high altar. In medieval Europe, candles were initially used primarily in Christian churches. Their use spread later to the households of the wealthy as a luxury item. In Northern Europe, especially England,
rushlights made of greased rushes were commonly used, but
tallow candles were used during the Middle Ages, with a mention of tallow candles in English appearing in 1154.
Beeswax was widely used in church ceremonies. Compared to animal-based tallow, it burns cleanly without smoky flame, and does not release an unpleasant smell like tallow. Beeswax candles were expensive, and relatively few people could afford to burn them in their homes in medieval Europe. being carried The candles were produced using a number of methods: dipping the wick in molten fat or wax, rolling the candle by hand around a wick, or pouring fat or wax onto a wick to build up the candle. In the 14th century Sieur de Brez introduced the technique of using a mould, but real improvement for the efficient production of candles with mould was only achieved in the 19th century. Wax and tallow candles were made in monasteries in the medieval period, and in rural households, tallow candles were made at home. By the 13th century, candle making had become a guild craft in England and France, with a French guild documented as early as 1061. The candle makers (chandlers) went from house to house making candles from the kitchen fats saved for that purpose, or made and sold their own candles from small candle shops. By the 16th century, beeswax candles were appearing as luxury household items among the wealthy. Candles were widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries, and a party in
Dresden was said to have been lit by 14,000 candles in 1779. In the Middle East, during the
Abbasid and
Fatimid Caliphates, beeswax was the dominant material used for candle making. Beeswax was often imported from long distances; for example, candle makers from Egypt used beeswax from
Tunis. As in Europe, these candles were expensive and limited to the elite, and most commoners used oil lamps instead. According to legend, the practice of using lamps and candles in mosque started with
Tamim al-Dari who lit a lamp he brought from Syria in the
Prophet's Mosque in Medina. The
Umayyad caliph
Al-Walid II was known to have used candles in the court in Damascus, while the Abbasid caliph
al-Mutawakkil was said to have spent 1.2 million silver
dirhams annually on candles for his royal palaces. In early modern Syria, candles were in high demand by all socioeconomic classes because they were customarily lit during marriage ceremonies. There were candle makers' guilds in the
Safavid capital of
Isfahan during the 1500s and 1600s. However, candle makers had a relatively low social position in Safavid Iran, comparable to
barbers,
bathhouse workers, fortune tellers, bricklayers, and
porters. In the 18th and 19th centuries,
spermaceti, a waxy substance produced by the
sperm whale, was used to produce a superior candle that burned longer, brighter and gave off no offensive smell. Later in the 18th century,
colza oil and
rapeseed oil came into use as much cheaper substitutes.
Modern era had become the largest candle manufacturer in the world by the end of the 19th century A number of improvements were made to the candle in the 19th century. In older candles, the wick of a burning candle was not in direct contact with air, so it charred instead of being burnt. The charred wick inhibited further burning and produced black smoke, so the wick needed to be constantly trimmed or "snuffed". In 1825, French candle maker M. Cambacérès introduced the plaited wick soaked with mineral salts, which when burnt, curl towards the outer edge of the flame and become incinerated by it, thereby trimming itself. These are referred to as "self-trimming" or "self-consuming" wicks. In 1823,
Michel Eugène Chevreul and
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac separated out
stearin in animal fats, and obtained a patent in 1825 to produce candles that are harder and can burn brighter. The manufacture of candles became an industrialized mass market in the mid 19th century. In 1834, Joseph Morgan, a
pewterer from
Manchester, England, patented a machine that revolutionised candle making. It allowed for continuous production of molded candles by using a cylinder with a moveable piston to eject candles as they solidified. This more efficient mechanized production produced about 1,500 candles per hour. This allowed candles to be an affordable commodity for the masses. In the mid-1850s,
James Young succeeded in distilling
paraffin wax from coal and oil shales at
Bathgate in
West Lothian and developed a commercially viable method of production. Paraffin could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It was a bluish-white wax, which burned cleanly and left no unpleasant odor, unlike
tallow candles. By the end of the 19th century, candles were made from paraffin wax and
stearic acid. By the late 19th century,
Price's Candles, based in London, was the largest candle manufacturer in the world. Founded by William Wilson in 1830, the company pioneered the implementation of the technique of
steam distillation, and was thus able to manufacture candles from a wide range of raw materials, including skin fat, bone fat, fish oil and industrial greases. Despite advances in candle making, the candle industry declined rapidly upon the introduction of superior methods of lighting, including
kerosene lamps and the 1879 invention of the
incandescent light bulb. From this point on, candles came to be marketed as more of a decorative item. ==Use==