Candle holders Bulgaria Balkans Trojan Troyan

A pair of charming small candle holders with a ceramic glaze adorned with very beautiful patterns (beige, black, and blue) on a chocolate and black background. These patterns are typical of Trojan ceramics, sometimes written as Troyen or Troyan, a region in the Balkans (now Bulgaria). Each artist had their own pattern that served as a signature. I found these two pieces separately, but they might come from the same workshop, as the colors and patterns are very similar. These candle holders likely date from the 1960s or 70s (the paper labels underneath do not look recent!), but the production of this type of ceramic, considered the true Bulgarian ceramic, continues to this day. Today, the pieces produced are often in brighter colors, but still feature these very beautiful patterns. These ceramics, often utilitarian (especially culinary), are not just decorative and are still used in most families. These candle holders do not have any cracks, but each has a small chip on the upper edge. They measure 7 cm in diameter at the base and 10 cm in height for one and 10.5 cm for the other; the candle holder's opening forms a slight funnel for candles with a diameter of about 2 cm to 2.5 cm. I also offer them separately here (type VDBAPBAJ and X4KHSQ37 in the search bar).