Candle Mold c. 1936

Vincent P. Rosel rendered this “Candle Mold” using graphite and colored pencil, preserving an echo of 19th-century craft and industry. Born in an era marked by both rapid industrialization and deep nostalgia for pre-industrial times, Rosel’s work captures this tension. Consider the candle itself, a source of light and warmth made accessible through labor. The candle mold speaks to the communal, often gendered, activity of candlemaking, a social practice deeply interwoven with daily life before the advent of electric light. Rosel highlights the beauty of utility; he draws our attention to this handmade object with reverence. There is something deeply personal about Rosel’s interest in this candle mold. As viewers, we are left to consider what this means to us in a time where the tools and modes of our making are increasingly invisible.