Mazarin" chandelier France Circa 1880 Gilt bronze Height:...

Mazarin" chandelier France Circa 1880 Gilt bronze Height: 80 cm; Diameter: 82 cm A handsome Regency-style ormolu chandelier with eight square-section arms of light, linked to the shaft by women's heads, adorned with acanthus leaves and ending in delicately worked binnacles and bobèches. The central shaft is composed of a gadrooned vase adorned with four handles topped by a female head wearing an antique hairstyle, resting on a base decorated with acanthus leaves, a ribboned torus and four ram heads, and ending with a seed. Sconces, chandeliers, candlesticks and candelabras, used to light spaces, developed considerably during the 17th century. Although they already existed in the 17th century, the term "chandelier" was not used until later, since until the 18th century in old inventories, chandeliers were simply referred to as candlesticks. Their refinement testifies to their owners' social status. Their sophisticated decor, marked by great rigor and classical solemnity, was inspired by the ornamental designs of Jean Bérain, Daniel Marot, C. de Moelder or Le Pautre and André-Charles Boulle, distributed throughout Europe by model books, and widely adopted by other craftsmen. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, ornamentalists brought a new vivacity to the decorative arts with their models, paving the way for the more intimate, lighter Regency style.