Chandelier or ceiling lamp, Louis XVI style. Bronze, glass. France, 19th century. This ceiling lamp, crafted from gilded bronze with clear glass elements, features sixteen lights in total. Starting at the top, a small circular piece, decorated in relief, extends from a central axis branching into four arms. These arms leave the center free for a series of faceted glass pieces (which serve as the central visual focus) and curve downwards (note the bronze band adorned with a string of pearls), culminating in a cup. At the bottom, these four arms divide, creating vegetal forms, scrolls, and architectural details. Vase-shaped burners, from which glass teardrops with pearls hang, are positioned above the main arms. The secondary burners are finished with bronze burners featuring vegetal motifs ("cups" on bronze plates, almost resembling flowers emerging from leaves), which are topped with fluted glass plates, some nearly flat and others deeper. It is in this lower area that the hanging elements are most abundant: teardrop-shaped pieces of clear glass, with pearls (sometimes in pairs, sometimes just one), and others shaped like flowers. From the central point hangs a disc topped with a faceted sphere. Stylistically, the piece displays clear influences of 18th-century French Rococo: rocaille, contrasting curves and counter-curves, and dynamic plant motifs. This influence is common in 19th-century works and is known as the "Louis XV style." It is also worth noting the similarity of the lamp's glass elements to works by the Société Baccarat, a company founded in 1764 with the permission of Louis XV and still operating today, specializing in high-quality glass. Throughout the 19th and into the 20th centuries, it was common for leading Parisian bronze workers to use Baccarat beads in their work (François Linke, E. Colin & Cie, etc.).
· Size: 80x80x132 cms
ANTIQUES
FURNITURE
Ref.: ZF1129
