Suspended masterpieces
Six-light chandelier, detail, circa 1740, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Arts (inv. 1974.356.111)
It is difficult for our eyes—accustomed to electric light—to imagine the subtlety of interior lighting in the eighteenth century. Dependent on the flickering golden glow of candles, illumination was amplified by gilding, mirrors, and reflections from crystal. Light itself was a luxury, and the objects that bore it were true works of art.
André-Charles Boulle (after), Chandelier with dolfins, circa 1700, Paris, Musée du Louvre (inv. OA 10513)© Château de Versailles, Dist. RMN / © Christophe Fouin
Among the various lighting fixtures found in eighteenth-century interiors, the chandelier was undoubtedly the most majestic. Suspended high above, it adorned the ceiling and drew every gaze. It symbolized the wealth and power of its owner: exceptionally expensive, a chandelier could be worth several thousand livres. They appeared only in the grandest households, and only the most important rooms merited such embellishment. The Livre-Journal of the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux, detailing the repairs and cleanings of Madame de Pompadour’s chandeliers, mentions “the” rock-crystal chandelier at Versailles or Bellevue—as if she possessed only a single example.
Because of their richness, prestige, and the craftsmanship they required, chandeliers made ideal diplomatic gifts. Louis XV offered magnificent gilt-bronze examples to European sovereigns, notably to his daughter Louise-Élisabeth, Princess of Parma. The two sumptuous rocaille chandeliers by Caffieri that she received for the palace of Colorno are now in the Wallace Collection in London.
Jacques Caffieri, Philipe Caffieri (probably by), Chandelier, presented by Louis XV to his daughter Princess Louise-Elisabeth of Parma, crica 1751, Londres, Wallace Collection (inv. F84)© The Wallace Collection
Several types of chandeliers existed, differing in form and material. In his Dictionnaire des Arts et Métiers, republished in 1773, Abbé Jaubert distinguishes three varieties: “à cage découverte” (bare cage) chandeliers, with no applied ornaments; “à console” chandeliers, also called cage chandeliers; and “à lacés” (laced) chandeliers. The first category consists primarily of gilt-bronze works. At the end of the seventeenth century, designers and bronzeworkers created small gilt-bronze models richly decorated with figures. Jean Bérain (1640–1711) and André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732) offered early examples in their engraved pattern books. These models evolved with changing tastes: adopting rocaille forms during the reign of Louis XV, then returning to neoclassical rigor at the century’s end. Such chandeliers were produced by the greatest bronziers—Boulle, the Caffieri family, Pierre Gouthière (1732–1813), Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843), and François Rémond (1747–1812), to name only a few. One masterpiece is the chandelier with musician children made for the Comte de Provence, executed around 1780 by Rémond.
François Rémond (attributed to), Dominique Daguerre, Arabesque chandelier with child musicians, probably seized from the Comte de Provence at the Luxembourg palace in 1790, circa 1775–1785, Versailles, Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (inv. VMB 1137)© Château de Versailles, Dist. RMN / © Christophe Fouin
À lacés chandeliers and à console chandeliers, by contrast, were creations of crystal. Rock crystal was the earliest material used for lighting fixtures. Under Louis XIV, these stones were avidly sought after, cut and selected for their purity. More than simple light sources, chandeliers were then jewels hung from the ceiling. Rock crystal supply was difficult, which only increased their cost and prestige. In 1778, the rock-crystal manufactory of Briançon was founded to exploit the Alpine mines, and Louis XVI elevated it to the status of royal manufactory in 1784. Owning a rock-crystal chandelier throughout the eighteenth century was a mark of opulence and an essential of the grandest interiors.
“à lacés” chandelier in rock crystal, circa 1700, Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum (inv. 88.DH.17)
Their high cost and rarity, however, encouraged artisans to seek alternatives. In 1699, Bertin (1668–1736), a royal designer, received a privilege to produce molded-glass chandeliers imitating rock crystal. Beads and later faceted glass drops were developed, and numerous European manufactories dedicated themselves to their production. Bohemia became a major center for this industry; rock-crystal pendants were even sent from France to be reproduced there in glass. The Queen’s crystal manufactory, first established at Sèvres in 1782, was relocated to Montcenis in 1786.
Whether of rock crystal or glass, the drops—plaques, prisms, spikes, pyramids, and pendants—appeared in a wide variety of shapes. Attached to the brass or bronze armatures of cage chandeliers, they formed airy compositions that played with light, reflection, and transparency.
“cage” or “en console” chandelier, in gilt bronze and Bohemia crystal, from the Crown Collections, 18th century, Versailles, Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (inv. T 1282)© Château de Versailles, Dist. RMN / © Christophe Fouin
The chandelier trade in Paris was driven above all by the marchands-merciers. Lazare Duvaux recorded numerous deliveries in his Livre-Journal. The dealer Julliot supplied Louis XV in 1739 with a large rock-crystal chandelier for his Petite Galerie at Versailles, while Alexis Delaroue, “ordinary chandelier-maker to the king,” delivered another for Marie-Antoinette’s Cabinet de la Méridienne. Able to procure both rock crystal and faceted-glass plaques from Bohemia and beyond, the marchands-merciers also devised original combinations of materials for their chandeliers, incorporating strikingly modern elements. Porcelain and even colored glass—developed by George Frédéric Stras (1701–1773) in 1730—appeared in magnificent compositions. In December 1741, the dealer Hébert delivered to the king’s cabinet at Choisy a chandelier “of gilt and enameled bronze, adorned in the center with three porcelain figures of shepherds and shepherdesses (…) the stem formed of enameled and painted branches and flowers (…).”
Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin, Chandelier made for the King of Prussia, 1760, Paris, Musée du Louvre (inv. RF 52203)© GrandPalaisRmn (Musée du Louvre) / Thierry Le Mage
Masterpieces of bronze and crystal, chandeliers rank among the finest works of art produced in the eighteenth century. Lavish and dazzling, they symbolized the splendor of their owners—and still invite us today to raise our eyes in admiration.
Bibliography:
Pierre Verlet, Les Bronzes dorés Français du XVIIIe siècle, Picard, 1999
Marie-France Dupuy-Bayle, De Bronze et de Cristal. Objets d’ameublement XVIIIe-XIXe siècles du Mobilier national, Éditions Faton, 2020
Peter Rath, Josef Holey, Furniture in the Air. The crystal chandelier in Europe, Verlag Biblilothek der Provinz, 2020
