Taper

I am called Taper, partly because I come to a point at both ends, and partly because a taper is a slow-burning thing.

Look at me from above and there’s a box. It isn’t really there. It’s drawn in three lines of small stone triangles, set so the light and dark make edges where there are none. One incense stick rests across it, and that’s really all I need to do.

Creator’s Notes

We liked that the word already meant two things: a shape, and something made to burn slowly.

The surface is stone marquetry. Each triangle is cut and set by hand, and the colours are placed deliberately so the pattern folds into depth, the way an optical illusion does. It’s our way of drawing a box with stone instead of a pencil.

The two outer stripes are angled and the central line is flat, so the ash falls and settles in the middle.

Materials

Colourway 1: white Makrana marble, beige Makrana marble, orange Makrana marble, coral pink Makrana marble, aluminium

Colourway 2: red Agra sandstone, pink Jodhpur sandstone, beige sandstone, golden Kota stone, brown Kota stone, brown Dholpur sandstone, aluminium

Colourway 3: grey Kota stone, coral pink Makrana marble, lapis lazuli, black Kadappa stone, aluminium

Colourway 4: red Agra sandstone, yellow Jaisalmer sandstone, lapis lazuli, pink Jodhpur sandstone, brown Dholpur sandstone, aluminium

Dimensions (L × B × H)

250 × 45 × 10 mm

Instructions for use

Place an incense stick in my aluminium triangle, light it and let it burn. My angled edges guide the ash to the flat centre. Once the stick has burnt down, tip the ash out and wipe me with a soft, dry cloth. I’m ready for another one.