During the prosperous Tang and Song dynasties, people paid more attention to the quality of life. Even daily utensils had to be made extremely exquisite. Therefore, candlesticks were no longer just daily necessities, but also had more artistic appreciation.
"Tianbao Yishi" records: "King Jia carved a boy out of sandalwood. Every night he drank, he held a candle, so he was called a candle slave." The nobles of the Tang Dynasty used precious red sandalwood to make candlesticks, carved into the shape of a boy, and lit a huge candle on it to cheer up the guests at night. They were called candle slaves.
"Qingyi Lu" by Tao Gu of the Song Dynasty said: "There is an iron man holding a candle on the table, which is five feet high. It is said that it was something in the stable of the Yang family. One evening, I urgently needed a candle, so I called the eunuch to bring my golden slave over." It means that Li Bian, the first emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was frugal. After he became emperor, he still used iron candlesticks in the shape of an iron man, and he also named them "golden slaves". It can be seen that during this period, candlesticks have already had aesthetic concepts, and have higher artistic pursuits in materials and craftsmanship.
Selection and decoration
Candlesticks are often used with candles for decoration. In addition to serving candles, candlesticks can also be used alone as part of home decoration. Therefore, when choosing candlesticks, you should be just right and don't place too many indoors. Exquisite candlesticks can add interest to home life. Spend a small amount of money to buy various novel candlesticks to decorate the room. Using its wonderful shape and the beauty and fragrance of candlelight, it can often highlight the taste of the owner. Or display it on the antique shelf and collect it well, which is also an elegant embellishment of a happy life.
There are many styles of candlesticks on the market, generally divided into European and Chinese styles. You can choose the right candlestick according to the home decoration style. In terms of materials, iron candlesticks are the majority. Iron candlesticks are easy to clean dust, not easy to break, and can be well matched with any home decoration style. However, the color of iron candlesticks is too single, and the more popular plexiglass candlesticks on the market can make up for the shortcomings of iron candlesticks.