IN THE MUSEUMS : Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.
Candelabra – Louis XIV era
Double crystal and cut glass girandole-candelabra on a gilded bronze mount.
Location : Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.
These two girandoles have six arms in total; the light is magnified by the crystal and cut glass beads hanging from the top. Candelabras such as this one were highly prized during the reign of Louis XIV.
They were often seen in large castle rooms to add to the often-insufficient light emitted by chandeliers. Versailles’s Hall of Mirrors, for instance, sported a long row of girandoles.
Both functional and decorative, these objects were very popular at the time.
