I was in a very small (mom & pop scale) factory that made copper vases, candle holders and that sort of thing. This was for a school paper I was writing, an assignment. I think I was supposed to go somewhere else, assigned to report on another thing but I ended up there by mistake. The girl who met me didn't look like she was expecting a visitor but she was nice and accommodated me.  

I noticed that their products looked rough, like they were made with crude instruments. She explained that it was intentional. They were using the techniques, materials and tools of a specific time period in history. That was their thing.  

I inspected a small cylindrical object of an ancient, maybe medieval design that was on the table. It had a lid and vague designs etched on its dusty looking surface. It was clearly made of copper, or maybe bronze. The opening was crooked, wavy, and the lid barely fitted. I liked it. The girl said it was an ash holder but I thought it was rather small. It was only slightly bigger than a beer can. Surely the human body produced more ash than that when cremated?  

I inspected another one. (The table was dusty. Maybe they were using some kind of kiln in the manufacturing process and that's where the dust was coming from. The whole room seemed to be covered with a thin layer of white powder. Ash? Dust? But it didn't bother me.) This second ash holder had a more contemporary shape but it still looked ancient, vaguely. I really liked them. I wondered if they made candelabras too, but I thought if they did they'd be made of copper and I didn't want copper-colored candelabras. 

I talked to the lady who seemed to be in charge of the place. We talked about the chemistry of what they were doing and it dawned on me that she was a chemist by education. Then she used a non-English word for sugar cane (which I recognized) and it surprised me even more.