I have—and in this I’m not too unusual—an affinity bordering on reverence for Morrissey. (I know, I know—call me morbid, call me pale.) The quiffed Smiths front man (and current solo act) serenaded me through the moodiest years of adolescence and beyond, and as misery’s troubadours go, I think few have a better way with a turn of phrase and a sneer. But as I said, I’m not unusual in that. The man inspires, maybe even demands, a kind of idolatry. So of all the Moz memorabilia out there, the new bust candle from New York’s Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, who specialize in jewelry and straight razors, feels to me among the most apropos. It’d make a fine centerpiece for a Smiths-centric religious rite, the kind of secular service still enacted in dorm rooms around the world—if you dared to burn it, of course. (If you do, there surely can’t be a better soundtrack suggestion than Morrissey’s “Hairdresser on Fire.”) It’d look just as good, though, displayed entire, far from the lick of flame. I’m not much of a candle guy, myself, but I have a weakness for a good bust in wax. This one deserves mantel-space alongside the wax heads of Napoleon and Marie Antoinette offered at the centuries-old French candlemakers Cire Trudon. Although at 9.1″, Morrissey towers over the 20-odd centimeter tall royals and world-beaters. You have to think he’d like that.
Half a Person Morrissey wax bust by Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, $185, available for preorder now at www.occulter.org.
—Matthew Schneier
Photo: Courtesy of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons
