Candle Mold
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 23.1 x 30.8 cm (9 1/8 x 12 1/8 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.12680
Art Historical Context
Vincent P. Rosel's *Candle Mold* (c. 1936) is a delicate watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 23.1 x 30.8 cm. This precise depiction captures the humble yet essential form of a traditional candle mold—a utilitarian object from early American households, to produce tallow candles before widespread electricity. Rosel's skilled hand brings out the mold's functional beauty, highlighting its metal construction and practical design through subtle shading and vibrant washes. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a New Deal-era initiative under the Works Progress Adm...
About the Artist
Vincent P. Rosel
Vincent P. Rosel is an artist about whom very limited documentation survives in the accessible art historical record. His dates, nationality, artistic training, and the scope of his career have not been definitively established in scholarly sources, placing him among the many figures whose names appear in collection records but whose biographies remain to be recovered. Where works attributed to R...