Trudon, a Parisian candlemaker since 1643, on rue de Seine

Trudon, a house of candles and church tapers, began in 1643, when Claude Trudon became the owner of a shop on rue Saint-Honoré. A grocer and wax chandler, he sold wax and household candles and supplied the tapers of the nearby parish of Saint-Roch.

His son Jacques became apothecary and distiller to Queen Marie-Thérèse in 1687. In 1737 Jérôme Trudon bought the Royal Wax Manufactory at Antony. Its perfectly white beeswax candles lit Versailles and the churches of France; its motto, “Deo regique laborant”, says that the bees work for God and the King.

Louis XVI still lit his rooms with its candles during his captivity. The manufactory then supplied the imperial court: at the birth of his son, Napoleon gave a taper set with gold coins bearing his likeness. Taken over by Carrière Frères in 1884, the house kept its moulds bearing the royal arms and still supplies Saint-Roch.

In 2007 it took the name Cire Trudon and created its scented candles, then its first perfumes in 2017. At 78 rue de Seine, in the 6th arrondissement, it sells candles, tapers, cameo church candles, wax busts and eaux de parfum.