Candle and Rush Light Holder

Art Historical Context

In the humble glow of colonial hearths, the *Candle and Rush Light Holder* (c. 1936) by Jack Staloff captures a quintessential piece of early American domestic life. This precise graphite drawing, measuring 29.4 x 22.7 cm, depicts a simple yet ingenious device for holding candles and rush lights—inexpensive illuminants made by dipping rushes in tallow, a staple for pre-industrial households before widespread kerosene lamps or electricity. Created as part of the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression, Staloff's work exemplifies a national effort to document and celebrate everyday American folk objects. Launched in 1935, the Index employed artists like Staloff to render over 15,000 watercolor and graphite studies of crafts, tools, and decorative arts, preserving cultural heritage amid economic hardship and fostering national pride. Staloff's graphite technique on paper allows for meticulous detail, highlighting the holder's functional form and subtle wear—testaments to its practical origins. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's collection, this drawing invites visitors to appreciate how ordinary objects embody ingenuity and resilience in America's past.

About the Artist

Jack Staloff · 1855–present

Jack Staloff was an American artist and designer active during the 1930s and 1940s, best known for his contributions to the Index of American Design, a New Deal-era Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This ambitious initiative commissioned artists across the United States to create precise watercolor and graphite renderings of everyday American crafts, tools, and dec...