Cire Trudon is a luxury French candlemaker and fragrance brand. The headquarters are located at 78 rue de Seine in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Founded in 1643, it was the provider of the royal court of Louis XIV, the Sun King, as well as most of the great churches of France.
Cire Trudon was the largest wax-producer in the French Kingdom during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1762, in his encyclopaedia The art of the wax producer, engineer Duhamel du Monceau, praises the skills of the Trudons and gives the manufacture as an example. Such a level of quality led to King Louis XIV elevating Charles Trudon to the French nobility as Count Trudon des Ormes.
History
Claude Trudon
In 1643, a salesman named Claude Trudon arrived in Paris. He soon became the owner of a shop on Saint-Honoré, which provided its customers with wax, candles for any domestic usage as well as church candles to the neighbouring Saint Roch parish. The candles were homemade, developing and building on a specific manufacturing process. On the eve of the reign of Louis XIV, M. Trudon established his first family-owned factory which was to bear his name and make the fortune of his heirs.
Jacques Trudon
Claude's son Jacques took over, becoming a grocer and wax producer and joined the Versailles royal court in 1687 as the apothecary and distiller of Queen Marie-Thérèse.
At the time, wax was under high scrutiny. Carefully collected on the hive, it was bleached through a series of pure water baths that washed off all the impurities. Dried in the open air, the wax was whitened by sunlight. When burning, the flame lit the translucent edges generating the glowing aura of the candle.
Jérôme Trudon
In 1737, Jérôme Trudon, heir of the family, purchased one of the most famous wax producing factories of the times that belonged to Lord Pean de Saint Gilles.
Cire Trudon today
Cire Trudon still keep records of recipe and tools of wax whitening: wrought iron, 17th century pans. The moulds used to form candles bearing the royal blazons still remain: "cierge pascal pour la Chapelle du Roy à Versailles, Bougies de nuit pour le Roy..." ("Easter candle church for the Royal Chapel in Versailles, night candle for the King...")
Cire Trudon supplied the Versailles castle until the end of the monarchy. During his captivity, Louis XVI used the candles of his royal wax manufacturer. The blazon and the motto would be hidden under a layer of mortar to avoid the furies of the Revolution.
It is still today the candle provider of many churches, including Saint-Roch in Paris, which has burned their candles since 1643.
Trudon distributes its products in France and abroad.
Sources
- Trudon in the Encyclopedia "Bibliothèque des sciences, et des beaux arts" (1754)
- Trudon in the book "Napoléon et son fils" (1929)
External links
- Cire Trudon
- Trudon cited in:
- Honoré de Balzac's The Human Comedy
- The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau