Nota Bene Wares was formed by Matthew Brooks in 2012 in Nottingham, England. It was bourne of a passion for hand-produced, thoughtfully designed objects that are simple, hardwearing and beautiful. All branding and packaging was designed by Matthew, who is inspired by the history of everyday life.

“This is overlaid with a great interest in history and in particular the history of everyday life and of design, and it is our intention that this is reflected in the products we sell. However, whilst you will see historical references in our products, they are by no means slaves to the past; they simply resurrect the bits that are today refreshingly different by contrast to the sea of disinteresting, ubiquitous items which fill our daily lives.”

“Our candles are made by hand in small batches in our workshop, using only natural, botanical fragrances and wax for a clean, even burn. They are hand wrapped and feature a laboriously hand-pleated top and base, which is a nod to the toilet soap packaging of the past. We print all of our labels ourselves on a 1950s letterpress which achieves a unique and distinctive tactile and sightly imperfect finish. Our candles are topped by a disk which is blind embossed with our logo using a 19th Century embossing press.”