Sea Urchin Candleholder, Hand Cast Plaster Votive Holder

A Sea Urchin Candleholder With a Natural Pattern

This sea urchin candleholder has a domed shell covered in rows of fine bumps. It is hand cast in plaster from one of the maker's vintage natural specimens. It measures 5.25 in D x 3.5 in H. Studio White is a clean plaster white, and Fossil is a weathered stone tone.

Product Details

• Material: Hand cast plaster
• Finish: Studio White or Fossil
• Dimensions: 5.25 in D x 3.5 in H
• Weight: 2 lb
• Package dimensions: 8 in x 8 in x 8 in
• Production: Made to order in the USA, ready to ship in 2 to 3 weeks
• Note: Hand cast, so appearance may vary from piece to piece
• Product number: HP46380SW (Studio White), HP46380FOS (Fossil)

How It Holds a Candle

The top holds a glass votive or a battery-operated candle. The candle is not included.

The bumps once carried the movable spines of a living urchin. Candlelight casts their small shadows across the table.

The sea urchin candleholder works as a votive candle holder on a side table or a shelf. A plaster candle holder like this one suits coastal candle decor in a bathroom or a dining room. Pair it with the starfish version for a set. The maker's vintage natural specimen supplied the pattern, so the surface follows a real skeleton. Sea urchins are echinoderms, relatives of starfish, with a five-part body plan.

Bringing Nature Indoors

Naturalists once packed specimens from every coast and carried them home to be catalogued. Early botanists did the same with plants. Displaying a sea urchin candleholder is a quiet descendant of that practice. Browse more casts in our Ocean Seashells Beach Nautical collection.

Made to Order

Each piece is cast to order in the USA. Production takes 2 to 3 weeks before it ships. Hand casting means color and surface vary slightly from piece to piece. Choose Studio White or Fossil at checkout.

Placement and Care

Use a glass votive or a battery candle. Keep it on a flat dry surface and dust it with a soft dry brush.

About Albertus Seba

Albertus Seba was an Amsterdam apothecary in the 18th century. He collected natural specimens well beyond what his trade required. After his death, his heirs auctioned the collection to finish publishing his four-volume catalogue. Much of it now sits in natural history museums.

His four volumes recorded the animals and shells he had gathered, drawn and described one by one.

For More Reading from the Web

• Albertus Seba, George Perry and the naturalists who catalogued shells, plants and animals from around the world: Natural Curiosities - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Meet the American shell collectors of the 1800s, from Thomas Say to Edgar Allan Poe's borrowed textbook: The Conchologists: Searching for Seashells in 19th Century America - Biodiversity Heritage Library