Bohemian style was largely successful across Europe and its biggest draw was the chance to obtain spectacular light refraction due to facets and bevels of crystal prisms.Īs a reaction to this new taste, Italian glass factories in Murano created new kinds of artistic light sources. Developments in glassmaking later allowed cheaper production of lead crystal, the light scattering properties of which quickly made it a popular addition to the form, leading to the cut glass chandelier, which was dominant from about 1750 until at least 1900.ĭuring the 18th century, glass chandeliers were produced by Bohemians and Venetian glassmakers who were both masters in the art of making chandeliers. Chandeliers made in this style also drew heavily on the aesthetic of ancient Greece and Rome, incorporating clean lines, classical proportions and mythological creatures. Neoclassical motifs became an increasingly common element, mostly in cast metals but also in carved and gilded wood. īy the early 18th century, ornate cast ormolu forms with long, curved arms and many candles were in the homes of many in the growing merchant class. Ivory chandeliers in the palace of the king of Mutapa, were depicted in a 17th century description by Olfert Dapper. Their high cost made chandeliers symbols of luxury and status. From the 15th century, more complex forms of chandeliers, based on ring or crown designs, became popular decorative features in palaces and homes of nobility, clergy and merchants. The earliest candle chandeliers were used by the wealthy in medieval times this type of chandelier could be moved to different rooms. A development of late antiquity and further evolving during the early Middle Ages, polycandela were used in places such as churches, synagogues, and aristocratic households and took the shape of a bronze or iron frame holding a varying number of globular or conical glass beakers provided with a wick and filled with oil. A later variation of the polycandelon took the shape of a lamp stand, placed on legs rather than hung by chains, some being known from the Seljuq realm and functioning as a prototype for the European chandelier, such as this example from the 12th-13th century. Īn advertisement for the Central Chandelier Company out of Toledo, Ohio in 1895Ĭhandeliers holding oil lamps were used in the Byzantine period, known as polycandela (singular polycandelon). The word chandelier was first known in the English language in the 1736, borrowed from the Modern French word chandelle meaning candle, which comes from the Latin candēla. They originally used candles as their source of light, which remained in use until the 18th century, when gas lights, later superseded by electric lights, were invented. The most typical places for larger chandeliers are churches or cathedrals.Ĭhandeliers evolved from candelabra and were invented during the medieval period. However, miniature chandeliers also exist, which can be installed in smaller spaces such as bedrooms or small living spaces. Due to their size, they are often installed in hallways, living rooms, staircases, lounges, and dining rooms. Modern chandeliers have a more modernized design that uses LEDs, and combines the elements of both classic and contemporary designs some are also equipped with refractive crystal prisms or small mirrors.Ĭhandeliers are distinct from pendant lights, as they usually consist of multiple lamps and hang in branched frames, whereas pendant lights hang from a single cord and only contain one or two lamps with fewer decorative elements. Classic chandeliers have arrays of hanging crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light, while contemporary chandeliers assume a more minimalist design that does not contain prisms and illuminate a room with direct light from the lamps, sometimes also equipped with translucent glass covering each lamp.
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