"mazarin" Gilt Bronze Chandelier, France, Circa 1880

Beautiful chiseled and gilded bronze chandelier with six square section light-arms, connected to the shaft by female heads, adorned with acanthus leaves and ending with delicately crafted binet and bobeches. The central shaft is composed of a gadroon vase adorned with four handles  crowned with antique-styled female heads, resting on a base decorated with acanthus leaves, a wrapped torus and four ram’s heads, and ending with a seed.

Sconces, chandeliers, candlesticks and other candelabra, which illuminate the rooms, grow considerably during the 17th century. Although already existing in the 17th century, the word “chandelier” was only used late because until the 18th century in the old inventories, the chandelier is designated by the word “candlestick”. Their refinement attests to the social status of their owner. Their sophisticated decor marked by great rigor and classical solemnity are inspired by decorative drawings made by Jean Bérain, Daniel Marot, Le Pautre or André-Charles Boulle and widely adopted by other artisans through all Europe. At the end of the 17th century and during the early 18th century, interior designers introduced for their models used in decorative arts a new vibrancy, freed from Le Brun’s Classicism, and paving the way to the Regency style, then more intimate.