What Are PRYTANEIA?

I call my little ceramic buildings Prytaneia. Their origin is fascinating.

The ancient Greeks kept a hearth-fire (koine-hestia) going at the centre of every town and village.

When they started their great migrations in the 8th century BC to set up cities all around the Mediterranean, they took the fire from their koine-hestia with them in a fennel stalk. It smouldered down the inside of the stalk, and was used to ignite the next stalk, until the final destination was reached.

The temple in which it was eventually housed was known as the Prytaneion and was sacred to Hestia, goddess of the hearth. The Prytaneion was the town hall, where executive government was carried out, and where the fire from the home hearth kept alive the ties between far flung Greeks.

My Prytaneia, with their symmetrical shape and a candle at the heart, are inspired by these early Greek buildings, but are not necessarily Greek.

Some are Islamic, some are Mughal and others are Silk Route, Moroccan, Moorish or mediaeval European, many inspired by my travels and archaeological experiences.

They are hand built and no two are exactly the same. All are designed to take a tea light which can be lit every night and safely left to burn out. Most of them also house an oil burner. They are stamped and dated with the hallmark device below, based on my silver hallmark from London.