Tray with two snuffers for extinguishing candles

The innate human wish to make all sorts of activities easier was the reason for inventing equipment for extinguishing candles. Its use eliminated the threat of burning one’s fingers – it sufficed to take a snuffer from a tray and put out the flame. The faïence devise belonged probably to Aleksandra Potocka, the wife of August, and was produced at the Horodnica manufactory (established in 1807 by Prince Józef Czartoryski) as part of a toiletry set. An inventory made after 1864 listed wash bowls, jugs, a bath for soaking feet, containers for a brush, soap and sponge, hair pomade boxes, two chamber pots and an indispensable pair of candlesticks. Despite the fact that in 1853 Ignacy Łukasiewicz constructed the first kerosene lamp, oil, tallow or wax candles were still used to supply light. Interiors that were usually dark in the evening brightened only during balls and celebrations, when chandeliers, lampions and oil lamps were used without moderation.