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Chandelier
English (London)
about 1810
Medium/Technique
Glass and gilt bronze
Dimensions
Overall: 109 x 68 cm (42 15/16 x 26 3/4 in.)
Mount (3/16" thick stainless steel chain ): 274.4 x 0.5 cm (9 ft., 3/16 in.)
Mount (3/16" thick stainless steel chain ): 274.4 x 0.5 cm (9 ft., 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds by exchange from a Gift of Doctors Elliott P. Joslin, Allen P. Joslin, and Priscilla White, Bequest of Charles Cobb Walker and with funds donated by Horace Wood Brock
Accession Number2005.94
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsGlass
Tools and equipment – Lighting devices
Tools and equipment – Lighting devices
In the 1790s English glass chandeliers adopted a new “tent,” or tapering, form made up entirely of linked glass drops. As on this example, the drops increase in size as the tent falls and spreads, so that there are no voids. All the drops and pendants on these chandeliers were lapidary cut, using rotating cutting wheels, rather than being molded or blown. The enormous expense of the chandeliers and the brilliance of the light reflected from their faceted drops made them the most striking features of early nineteenth-century English interiors.
DescriptionIn the 1790s English glass chandeliers adopted a new “tent,” or tapering, form made up entirely of linked glass drops. As on this example, the drops increase in size as the tent falls and spreads, so that there are no voids. All the drops and pendants on these chandeliers were lapidary cut, using rotating cutting wheels, rather than being molded or blown. The enormous expense of the chandeliers and the brilliance of the light reflected from their faceted drops made them the most striking features of early nineteenth-century English interiors.
Provenance2005, Apter-Fredericks, Ltd., London [see note 1]; 2005, sold by Apter-Fredericks to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 23, 2005)
NOTES:
[1] According to a representative of Apter-Fredericks, the chandelier was acquired through a chandelier specialist in England, and had probably never been outside the country.
NOTES:
[1] According to a representative of Apter-Fredericks, the chandelier was acquired through a chandelier specialist in England, and had probably never been outside the country.