Beeswax
The 1890 rules required church candles to be made from pure beeswax.
This is a general historical rule, not a laboratory analysis of Zelino output.
Sources: N. Markov, “Wax candle”, Orthodox Theological Encyclopaedia, vol. III, 1902
Russian Empire · Zelino · Staritsa
Candles and production techniques in Zelino
Documented evidence about the materials, equipment and operations of the candle workshop.
Wax candles in the Russian Empire
The church candle was both a liturgical object and the product of specialised works. Historical sources describe requirements for wax and wicks, forming methods, finishing and composition control. The Zelino works shows how this production served churches of the military and naval departments.
This guide is limited to wax and church-candle production. Tallow, stearin, paraffin and spermaceti candles are outside its present scope.
Quick reference
Materials, methods and terms
These definitions concern historical candle making. Factory-specific evidence is identified explicitly where the source refers to Zelino.
Open quick reference (6)
Svetilnya (wick)
Historical Russian sources use svetilnya for the wick. A white wick with a red thread was one possible outward sign of a church candle.
The wick material used specifically at Zelino has not been established.
Sources: N. Markov, “Wax candle”, Orthodox Theological Encyclopaedia, vol. III, 1902
Drawing
The wick passed repeatedly through wax and conical openings, building up its diameter. The Zelino workshop had three drawing machines.
No Zelino size table or factory specification has been found.
Sources: Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7 · N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
Dipping and the magel
Wax was poured over the wick and the cooled candle was evened with a wooden magel. The Zelino inventory names a dipping cauldron, an oak table and a birch magel.
The sources do not recover Zelino’s temperatures or size range.
Sources: Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7 · N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
Gilding
A 1900 technical article describes applying gold leaf to a warm candle; Zelino had a separate gilding room and table.
The particular pattern, materials and volume of Zelino’s gilded work are unknown.
Sources: Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7 · N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
The appearance has not been reconstructed.
Composition control
Late-19th-century sources record adulteration with cheaper substances, including ceresin: appearance alone did not establish composition.
This is an industry-wide historical risk, not an analysis of Zelino candles.
Sources: “Wax”, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary · N. Markov, “Wax candle”, Orthodox Theological Encyclopaedia, vol. III, 1902
Russian Empire
Types of wax candle
The types are organised by use, material, production method and appearance. They are not the range of a single works.
Open candle types (11)
Late Imperial period, church-wide regime
Church wax candle
- Use
- Worship
- Material
- Pure beeswax
- Production
- Factory production
- Appearance
- Wholesale in sealed packs; white wick with a red thread; length normally at least six circumferences
Rules of 1890 and 1892
Sources: N. Markov, “Wax candle”, Orthodox Theological Encyclopaedia, vol. III, 1902
Diocesan works and cathedral practice
White / bleached church candle
- Use
- Prestigious liturgical use
- Material
- Beeswax after bleaching
- Production
- Dipping or drawing followed by bleaching
- Appearance
- White and customarily more ceremonial, but not canonically mandatory
The type and historical process are documented
Sources: S. G. Runkevich, Orders and actions of the Holy Synod in 1914–1915 · N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
Earlier Russian practice; debate of 1914–1915
Yellow / unbleached church candle
- Use
- Worship
- Material
- Pure unbleached beeswax
- Production
- Ordinary factory production without bleaching
- Appearance
- Honey-yellow tone; described by the Committee as older
Historical position of the Committee
Sources: S. G. Runkevich, Orders and actions of the Holy Synod in 1914–1915
19th-century factory practice; Zelino, 1893
Numbered drawn candle
- Use
- Regular small and medium candles
- Material
- Wax; tightly twisted paper-thread wick
- Production
- Repeated drawing through conical holes
- Appearance
- The number denotes the resulting thickness
The method and equipment are documented
Sources: Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7 · N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
19th-century factory practice; Zelino, 1893
Thick dipped candle
- Use
- Large candles with a memorial and architectural character
- Material
- Wax
- Production
- Dipping, rolling with a magel and hand finishing
- Appearance
- Dense, massive form with finished top and base
The method is expressly documented
Sources: Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7 · N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
Late-19th-century technical practice
Coloured / ornamented wax candle
- Use
- Festive finish
- Material
- Wax, coloured wax or a wax-based paint
- Production
- Dipping in coloured wax; brush decoration
- Appearance
- Decorative pattern, not necessarily a liturgical norm
The technique, not a Zelino range, is documented
Sources: N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
Late-19th-century market and festive finish
Gilded candle
- Use
- Ceremonial or special presentation
- Material
- Wax candle and gold leaf
- Production
- Gilding a warm surface with a stamp
- Appearance
- Gilded surface or limited ornament
The process is documented; Zelino’s pattern is unknown
Sources: N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900 · Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7
Special liturgical class
The appearance of this type has not been reconstructed.
Paschal candle
- Use
- Easter
- Material
- Probably beeswax; exact formula unknown
- Production
- Separate special type
- Appearance
- Exempt from the general proportion rule
The type is named; its production sheet is unknown
Sources: N. Markov, “Wax candle”, Orthodox Theological Encyclopaedia, vol. III, 1902
Special liturgical class
The appearance of this type has not been reconstructed.
Nalepka
- Use
- Special liturgical use
- Material
- Probably wax; exact formula unknown
- Production
- Special type
- Appearance
- Exempt from general proportions
The category is named without a full production sheet
Sources: N. Markov, “Wax candle”, Orthodox Theological Encyclopaedia, vol. III, 1902
Zelino; churches of the military and naval clergy
Military and naval clergy candle
- Use
- Worship in departmental churches
- Material
- Documented as a pure-wax church candle
- Production
- Standard church-factory production
- Appearance
- Institutionally distinct; no separate chemical formula is proven
Purpose and channel are documented, not a secret formula
Sources: Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7 · M. Tuchkov, “Let the candle burn!”, 2024
Urban and affluent domestic life
Expensive domestic wax candle
- Use
- Domestic lighting
- Material
- Wax
- Production
- Various methods
- Appearance
- Expensive domestic light, distinct from a church candle
The general type is supported; the Russian range remains incomplete
Sources: N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
The workshop in 1893
How work was organised at Zelino
The order makes the recorded operations easier to read. It is not a reconstructed specification: the source records equipment and functions, not a complete production route.
Open workshop stages (4)
Prepare the wick
The workshop inventory names a machine for cutting wick material.
- Equipment
- Wick-cutting machine
The source does not identify the wick material used specifically at Zelino.
Form the candle
Three drawing machines and a dipping cauldron establish two ways of forming candles.
- Material
- Wax
- Equipment
- Drawing machines, Dipping cauldron
The source gives no dimensions, temperatures or complete sequence of operations.
Even the surface
An oak table and a birch magel were used to work the candles.
- Equipment
- Oak table, Birch magel
It is not known which sizes or batches received this treatment.
Apply the finish
A separate gilding room contained a table for gilding candles.
- Equipment
- Candle-gilding table
No available description preserves Zelino’s pattern, materials or volume of gilded work.
Historical context
Candle making in the history of the site
Candle making was the first documented stage of the site; the later transition to wax processing appears in the full chronology.
Evidence about a wax shipment
Sources and limits of interpretation
Open source list (7)
Industry publications explain materials, types and production methods. Historical reconstructions help visualise a described object or operation, but are not independent evidence and do not reproduce an undocumented Zelino range.
- Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7
- Location in source: с. 219–221
- Location in source: с. 220
- Location in source: с. 220–221
- Location in source: с. 219–220
- Location in source: с. 197, 219–221
- N. Markov, “Wax candle”, Orthodox Theological Encyclopaedia, vol. III, 1902
- Location in source: стб. «Восковая свеча», пункты правил 1890 года
- Location in source: описание внешних признаков, 4 декабря 1892 года
- Location in source: раздел о фальсификации и контроле состава
- Location in source: правила 1890 года и признаки 1892 года
- Location in source: описание внешних признаков 1892 года
- N. A. Speransky, “Candles and their manufacture”, Brockhaus and Efron, 1900
- Location in source: раздел о протягивании
- Location in source: раздел об обливании
- Location in source: раздел «Свечи восковые»
- Location in source: раздел об окраске восковых свечей
- Location in source: раздел о позолоте
- Location in source: исторический очерк
- “Wax”, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary
- Location in source: раздел о подмеси церезина и анализах 1888 года
- S. G. Runkevich, Orders and actions of the Holy Synod in 1914–1915
- Location in source: раздел о белой и жёлтой свече
- Location in source: раздел о жёлтой церковной свече
- M. Tuchkov, “Let the candle burn!”, 2024
- Location in source: разделы об основании и сбыте
- O. A. Deynega, “Let the candle burn!”, Staritsa Herald, 12 May 2024
- Location in source: account of M. Tuchkov’s research; report of wax imports from Lüneburg