Marble Taper Candlesticks – Taupe Marble and Ebony Candle Holders

These take tapers, which is a narrower candle than a pillar and calls for a holder built around a small socket rather than a broad plate. The stone is taupe marble, a gray-brown rather than the white-and-gray most people picture when they hear the word, and ebony is the second element in the pairing.

Marble is a metamorphic limestone, and the veining it is bought for is mineral impurity recrystallized under heat and pressure. It is also porous, which is the practical fact worth knowing before use: marble takes in oils and colored liquids, and wax left to cool on an unsealed marble surface can leave a shadow where it sat rather than lifting away clean. Ebony is the counterweight in the pairing, dense and dark and nearly without visible grain.

A taper candlestick works on a dining table, where the flame sits above eye level rather than in it, or on a mantel in a pair. The stone gives enough base weight that a tall candle does not make the holder top-heavy.

• Material: Taupe marble and ebony
• Candle type: Taper