Crystal Chandeliers

September 2, 2005 -- Something amazing happens when light and crystal interact. The light dances around the crystal, tripping from surface to surface, leaping around the angles. If you put lots of pieces of crystal together, then the effect is multiplied hundreds fold and if you add artificial light to the ambient, it's multiplied thousands fold - the whole thing comes alive, dances and captivates.

It's little wonder then that the crowned heads of Europe where obsessed by the concept and the chandelier as we think of it in the twenty-first century was born. The first chandeliers (the word is derived from the French word for candle) were pretty basic constructions of wood. Usually, a cross would be made and either tallow or wax candles placed along the arms - they were used in churches and cathedrals to provide the light for the priests to read from their bibles and it's not certain just how far they go back.

Engravings and paintings from the low countries show basic chandeliers in use as far back as the thirteenth century - both in churches and in the homes of the aristocracy. It's difficult for us to visualise a world in which the only way to add light to that of the sun was from something on fire - be it just that, a fire in the middle of a room, or a candle but that's how things were until alternating current electricity and gas mantles were developed not that much over a hundred years ago. The wealthier churches and cathedrals developed the concept of the chandelier using rock quartz until fabricated crystal appeared from what is now Eastern Europe in the eighteenth century - it was the English glass manufacturers of the early nineteenth century who first produced the Lead Crystal that's been used for fine glassware including chandeliers, up to the present.

Now get yourself time warped back two hundred and fifty years and try to imagine the scene. You've been deposited in the Topkapi Palace in Constantinople (we know it as Istanbul today) or maybe the Palais de Versailles near Paris where the Kings of France had their homes before the revolution.

A great table is set for a banquet, perhaps to honor royalty visiting from a neighboring Kingdom. Above the table hangs a conglomeration of crystal and candles - the effect is stunning. All the aristocracy and the wealthy wanted to emulate royalty so, by the end of the nineteenth century, a chandelier had become a "must have" item of decor in the larger homes in Europe. Today, tourist visitors to Stately Homes in France, Italy, Spain and England stand gazing up in awe at the great decorated ceilings and the spectacular chandeliers hanging from them. In the twentieth century, the chandelier was brought up to date. The crystal was replaced by shaped metal reflectors and lamp holders - in the nineteen thirties, Art Deco chandeliers were highly sought after and in the nineteen sixties, it was "contemporary" designs people wanted.

Today, chandeliers have come down to earth - not in the literal sense though! Instead of the outrageous cost of crystal, cut glass is pressed into service and to replace the dangerous candles, electric light bulbs. The little bulbs are often shaped like candles to add a little "something" to the piece. Chandeliers aren't the preserve of crowned heads these days. They're made in all shapes and, most importantly sizes to fit into even the most modest of homes. Certainly there are magnificent crystal chandeliers in the homes of the movie stars and studio magnates around Hollywood and in the homes of the bankers and company heads in the rest of the country but chandeliers are accessible to ordinary Americans these days. Chandeliers are made all over the world too. Instead of coming from just Bohemia (Slovakia), Murano (Venice, Italy) or the South West of England, they can come from just about anywhere with an enormous variety of styles. A chandelier hanging from the ceiling in your dining room or nook will change its whole character - it will turn a very ordinary room or area into something with a personality of its own! Your guests will be enthralled and captivated by the effect - make yourself into a movie star by hanging a crystal chandelier in your home.