There was one session where we measured seventeen sample cups of the same model again. They differed only in height and in the diameter of the rim, each step a few millimetres apart. From a distance they all looked the same, but once lit each one gave a different flame, a different wax surface, and a different way of throwing scent.
That says the thing we believe most when making an object. Proportion is not a matter of aesthetics, it is a matter of function. A cup one centimetre taller changes the flame, changes the scent, and changes even the feeling of your hand closing around it.
The rim, the wall and the flame
The diameter of the rim decides how wide the melt pool has to be, and from that it decides the size of the wick. A wide rim with a thin wick leaves the melt pool short of the wall, while a narrow rim with a thick wick gives a tall flame and wax that burns fast. So before settling a model, we test several wick sizes on the same wax and then sit and watch them burn through several rounds.
The height of the wall takes care of something else: it shelters the flame. A tall wall keeps the flame steadier in a room with a fan or a door left open, but too tall and the rim starts blocking the scent and heat is held in the cup longer than it needs to be. The right place lies between those two, and finding it takes a great deal of burning.
The thickness of the wall speaks to the hand. A thick wall gives weight and a sense of steadiness when you set the cup down. That is why picking up a concrete cup makes your hand slow itself, and that slowness is part of using it.
Beauty comes out of function
We rarely add ornament to our models. Not because there is anything wrong with ornament, but because each added detail asks for a little more attention, and what we want is for the object to do its work quietly in your home.
So the beauty of these cups lies in proportion, in the true surface of the material, and in the lines that have been taken away many times over. Adding a detail takes an afternoon; removing one and still having the object stand can take a whole season, because you have to understand very clearly what it is for before you dare remove anything.
Our three cup ranges learn their forms from the mountains, each in its own way. The cinnamon bark cup keeps the shape of the length of bark and comes with a lid. The concrete cup carries the weight of stream stone. The glass cup is clear, light, and lets the flame do the rest. All three follow the same principle: form comes after the work it has to do.
A few questions you often send us
Why do candle cups come in so many different sizes
Because each diameter and height gives a different rhythm of burning. The size is chosen according to the work the cup has to do, not yet according to how it looks.
Why do ZUNGZA's models have so little ornament
Because we let beauty sit in proportion and in the true surface of the material. That way lasts longer, and the object gains character the more it is used.
Which cup range suits a draughty room
A cup with a tall, thick wall, like the concrete cup, shelters the flame better. You should also trim the wick to about five millimetres so the flame stays small and steady.
Read more three cups that learn their forms from the mountains, the story of the concrete cup, and the wick and the work it does.