MATCH STRIKERS

I did not grow up lighting a candle every evening. In Italy a candle is for church, for a formal table, for when the power goes out. In Brooklyn I picked up the habit, and once I had it, I wanted a proper place to keep the matches. Something that belonged on the table.

The lid is flat porcelain, with a strip of adhesive striking paper set into the underside to strike matches. On top, a small knob made of colored clay layered together, in the same pigments as the stripes on the body. Sometimes one color, sometimes two, sometimes a gradient through several shades of the same family.

The stripes were unglazed at first, because the texture worked as a striking surface for strike-anywhere matches. I don't use those myself, and once I stopped needing the stripes to do that job, the surface became something to play with. Now some are fully glazed, stripes included, and some are left entirely matte, bare porcelain all the way through.

Each jar comes with colored matches tucked inside, chosen to match.

More in the journal.

A note on care:

the adhesive striker on the underside of the lid needs to stay dry to keep working. Full care notes here.

Where to find this work:

Match strikers are currently sold at As You Like in East Williamsburg.

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