You may already know that I’ve worked in museums for about two decades (!) and I spend much of my time at my full-time job at the Brooklyn Museum. I’ve held a variety of roles there over the years, and I’ve also been creating scented gallery tours since 2019, on topics from Frida Kahlo to Studio 54.

Well, here’s something new: the Brooklyn Museum’s retail team recently worked with Joya Studio on a collection of four limited edition candles. They were created to commemorate the BkM’s current exhibition of Utagawa Hiroshige’s 100 Views of Edo, and I was able to participate in the process.

Joya was established in Brooklyn by Frederick Bouchardy in 2006, so I’ve known about them for a while and I’ve long admired the quality and creativity of their home fragrance products. This collection is comprised of four scented 5-ounce candles inspired by Hiroshige’s art, one for each season of the year: Cherry Blossom (Spring), Plum Rain (Summer), Vermilion Maple (Autumn), and Purple Wisteria (Winter).

You can find more details, including smelling notes, in the BkM’s web store and on the Joya website. Each candle retails for $28. (I do not receive any kind of commission on candle sales, just in case you were wondering! I just want to spread the word about these products because I’m genuinely excited about them and proud of the combined efforts that brought them into being.)

Here’s a look at the printed dust-cover of the Autumn candle, with a detail from a Hiroshige print. I’m hoping to share information about the whole process behind this project at a later date — the fragrance development (by Frederick at Joya), the packaging design and displays (by Austin Dewees at the BkM), and the coordination and positioning of the entire collaboration (by Amber Luan at the BkM).

This isn’t the first time that a museum shop has sold a candle, of course — and it’s probably not even the first time that a museum has offered a candle as a tie-in to a work in its collection, but I have a feeling that this collaboration is unusual in its local production (the Brooklyn way!), its detailed connections to specific works of art (that’s where I came in), and its sophisticated-but-cool scents (with very reasonable prices on the final products).

More to come on this topic soon, I hope!

Photos by me.