Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2009.

Twenty-Four-Light Candelabrum

Manufacturer Compagnie des Verreries et Cristalleries de Baccarat (French, founded 1764)

CultureFrench

Dateca. 1900 (designed 1867, manufactured 1867–ca. 1914)

MediumBlown, cut, pressed lead glass

DimensionsOverall: 89 in. (226.1 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Decorative Arts Fund

Object number2007.5.1

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 216

DescriptionThese candelabrum are examples of the cut crystal furniture produced by Baccarat during the mid- to late nineteenth century. They are large in scale, measuring nearly 7 ½ feet in height. Except for a few minor replacements, the fittings -- prisms, drip pans and finials -- are all original. Both candelabrum have been electrified. Some of the drip pans carry the original Baccarat paper label (marked with a decanter set within a circle flanked by a stemmed glass and a goblet). These labels were used by the firm from 1862 to 1936.

Label TextCompagnie des Verreries et Cristalleries de Baccarat Baccarat, France Twenty-Four-Light Candelabrum, ca. 1900 (designed 1867, manufactured 1867–ca. 1914) Blown, pressed, and cut glass Like a sparking crystal tree, this magnificent candelabrum delicately balances over 800 individual pieces of prismatic glass on a metal armature. Known for its fine lead crystal glass, Baccarat began producing large candelabra, fountains, and furniture during the mid-1800s as new technologies allowed for the construction and annealing (slow cooling that prevents cracking) of large pieces of glass. Baccarat often marketed these extravagant luxury items to wealthy rulers of the Middle East and India who were eager to decorate their palaces with these mammoth glass furnishings. Museum purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Decorative Arts Fund 2007.5.1 .ProvenanceSotheby's New York, NY [April 20, 2007, lot no. 249]; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Museum Purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Decorative Arts Fund, 2007 Exhibition History"1878 Paris World's Fair," Paris, France, May 1 - November 10, 1878. Same model Published ReferencesJane Shadel Spillman, _European Glass Furnishings for Eastern Palaces_ (New York: The Corning Museum of Glass, 2006), 122-123. Similar example Sotheby's, _19th Century Furniture, Sculpture, Ceramics and Works of Art Including Property Formerly from the Palacio Ferreyra, Argentina_, sale NO8205, auction cat., April 20, 2007, New York, lot 249. Jean-Louis Curtis, _Baccarat_ (Paris: Editions du Regard, 1991), 73 & 95. ISBN: 9782903370701 Same model

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