The Blue and White Bowl

The short answer: every Heirloom candle is eighteen ounces with three wicks, poured into a blue and white bowl designed to outlive the candle inside it. When the wax burns down, let it cool, pop out the wick tabs, scoop out the soft wax with a spoon, and wash the bowl with hot water and dish soap. Never pour wax down the drain.

Walk through any well-kept 18th century home in Virginia, or any museum recreating one, and you will find it: blue and white.

Blue and white ceramics arrived in colonial America by ship, imported from China through European trading companies, and English potteries soon produced their own versions to meet the demand. A blue and white bowl on the table was a small statement that a household was connected to a wider world. Families kept these pieces, repaired them, and passed them down. Many survive today for a simple reason: they were never meant to be thrown away.

That is the idea behind our Heirloom Collection.

Every Heirloom candle is hand poured into a Blue and White Bowl designed to outlive the candle inside it. When the last of the wax burns down, wash the bowl with warm soapy water and it begins its second life: a catchall by the door, a bowl for clementines, a planter for something small and green. Some customers buy a second scent just to grow the set.

Three wicks, seven inches

The bowl is seven inches across and three and a half tall, and it takes three cotton wicks. That matters more than it sounds like it should. Fragrance throw comes from the surface area of melted wax, not from the flame, so three wicks spread across a seven-inch bowl fill a room in a way a single wick never could.

It also means you have to light all three, every time. Lighting one or two creates an uneven melt pool that the candle will remember and follow for the rest of its life.

How to clean your bowl

Let the remaining wax cool completely. Pop out the three wick tabs, scoop the soft wax with a spoon, then wash with hot water and dish soap. Never pour wax down the drain.

To protect the bowl while the candle is still burning, stop using it when about half an inch of wax remains. Below that, the flames heat the base of the vessel directly. The full set of habits is in our candle care guide.

The bowl is why we call the collection Heirloom. The scent is the experience; the vessel is the keepsake.

Where to start

Every scent in the Heirloom Collection is $56 and comes in the same bowl. A few places to begin:

• Wheatley, our bestseller. Bright citrus and tropical fruit over cedar.
• King Street, rose and lily of the valley with fresh foliage and sandalwood.
• Yorktown, sea salt, jasmine, and lemon.
• Ona Judge, cool and herbal, with lavender, eucalyptus, and cedar.
• 1783, cloves, cardamom, amber, and a hint of smoke.

Prefer something smaller? The same scents come as eight-ounce single-wick candles for $24 in the Signature Collection. Or shop all scents.

To keep the bowl in good shape for its second life, our Keeper's Candle Care Kit covers the wick trimming and clean burning that protect the vessel. Trimming three wicks by hand is where it earns its keep.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get wax out of a candle bowl? Let it cool completely, pop out the three metal wick tabs, scoop the softened wax with a spoon, then wash with hot water and dish soap. Do not pour melted wax down the drain.

How many wicks does the Heirloom candle have? Three.

Is the bowl dishwasher safe? Hand washing is safer and takes about a minute.

What can I use the bowl for afterward? A catchall by the door, a fruit bowl, a planter for something small, or a container for jewelry or keys.

How big is the Heirloom candle? Eighteen ounces, in a bowl roughly seven inches across and three and a half inches tall.

Keep reading

More stories: How Long Should You Burn a Candle?, The Hearth Candles, Candles of Old Town Alexandria, and Ona Judge, the Woman Who Said No.