Glass Candle Holders Explained: Hurricane, Votive, Pillar and Taper

Candle holders are sold by shape, and candles are sold by shape, and the two vocabularies don't obviously line up. Here's what each glass form is for, so you don't end up with a holder that won't take the candle you own.

Hurricane

A tall glass cylinder, open at the top, that surrounds the flame. Originally to stop wind blowing a candle out — which is still what it's best at, and why it's the only one of the four that genuinely works outdoors or near a draft.

Takes: pillar candles, or a smaller holder placed inside it.
Light: the most of any type. The glass walls act as a lens and spread light sideways across a surface.
Watch for: height. A pillar that sits well below the rim gets hidden as it burns down. The candle should start at roughly two-thirds the height of the glass.

Votive

Small, straight-sided, usually 6 to 8 cm tall. The workhorse. Cheap enough to buy in threes, which is how they look best.

Takes: votive candles or tealights. A tealight in a votive holder sits low and pools light downward — fine on a tray, less good on a shelf where you'll only see the glow.
Light: small and intimate. These are for grouping, not for lighting a room.
Watch for: nothing much. This is the forgiving one.

Pillar holder

A flat glass or footed plate designed to sit a thick pillar candle on, rather than enclose it. More sculptural than protective.

Takes: pillar candles, 5 cm diameter and up.
Light: unobstructed, so it throws further than a votive but is also easier to blow out.
Watch for: wax. An open pillar drips down its own sides and onto the plate. A raised lip is worth having.

Taper holder

A narrow cup, often footed, for thin dinner candles. The most formal of the four and the one that reads most obviously Scandinavian when the form is simple.

Takes: taper candles — and this is where sizing goes wrong most often. Standard taper bases are about 2.2 cm. A holder cut for a slightly different diameter means a candle that either won't seat or wobbles. Check the cup measurement before buying, not after.
Light: high and thin. Tapers put the flame above eye level on a dining table, which is why they suit a table and not a coffee table.
Watch for: stability. A tall taper in a light holder is genuinely a tip hazard. Weight in the base is the whole point.

Choosing between them

If you want one type: votives, in a group of three on a tray. They're the least fussy, work in any room, and forgive the wrong candle.

If you want the most light from the fewest objects: a hurricane. If you want a dining table to feel like an occasion: tapers. If you want a sculptural object that happens to hold a candle: a footed pillar plate.

Whatever you pick, group in odd numbers at different heights, and put them on something — a tray gives the group an edge and catches the wax. See the candle holders · see the trays.