NatureCraft & A Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers

 

The wax chandlers, the twentieth livery company created, were a necessary and vital part of life in the middle ages. Established in 1358 to regulate and control the purity and trade of beeswax, the wax chandlers guild was given royal charter in 1484. Separate from the tallow chandlers, the wax chandlers made all of their goods from beeswax, pure beeswax in the case of candles.

The company motto is “Truth is the Light”.

 

In its pure state, beeswax does not smoke, drip or soot at all. Traditionally the church only used beeswax. Church law, created in the 1300’s, only allowed beeswax to be burned in churches, protecting the many tapestries and fine detailed art work. This law stayed in effect up until the last century and is still observed by many churches to some degree. The virginal attributes of the honeybee made the wax a symbol of purity and it is still used for many rituals even today.

 

While the wax chandler worked with pure beeswax and fragrance oils, the tallow chandlers of the middle ages worked with common oils, crude and animal fat. The tallow chandler made basic lighting fuel or candles that commonly produced a great deal of smoke and soot. These types of fuel for light were cheap and plentiful so they were the most common method of lighting homes, and even some establishments of service or trade.

 

The value and demand of beeswax being so high, it was pressed into coins and used in trade throughout the middle ages. Since beeswax in the old world was both costly and rare, its value typically made the wax chandler an upper middle class merchant. Servicing the church, royalty and nobility as their primary patrons, the items the wax chandler offered items that reflected the needs of these classes.

 

Beeswax not only doesn’t smoke or soot, many believe it helps to clear dust and pollutants from the air as it burns. These and many more properties changed the functionality of beeswax to become more than just light. Beeswax became a way to worship, meditate, clean the body, condition the skin, set ambience and dispense fragrances from incense, herbs & scented oils.

The wax chandler guild was where the upper classes could obtain beeswax crafted candles, soaps, skin lotion/salve, pigments, wood polish, leather lotion and fragrances for their herbs, candles & body. We have added a few modern ideas to this ancient line, but while the ideas are new, the raw materials & tools used are the same as have been available for two thousand years.

 

Like the wax chandler of centuries past we emphasize the purity of the beeswax we use. We have our own source of beehives and control the purity of our wax from hive placement to the finished product, producing the finest all organic pure wax that can be made.

 

Our dyes, for the few candles we color, are specially made by us from beeswax to blend with minimal amounts. Even the pillar candles we do dye are only dipped or dripped in the colored wax. The center of the candle is always solid pure natural unadulterated beeswax.

 

Though we have our own hives, we are not bee keepers. We concentrate on our trade of purifying and crafting for & from the beeswax. We do not offer honey, honey products or honey treats. We offer very few molded or decorative candles. We create beautiful, useful & practical candles, lotions, soaps, balms, salves & fragrances handmade, as historically accurate as safety, efficiency and quality will allow.

 

< prevnext > Church law in the middle ages only allowed the burning of beeswax in the churches throughout Europe.The purity and quality of the beeswax we use is our top concern, as it was with the wax chandlers in history.