BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL
The bold brilliance of ornate chandeliers is once again bringing light and life to the nation’s homes. By Charlotte Brook
The glorious return of chandeliers
Chandeliers hold a special place in British hearts and houses. Aside from their baroque beauty, they are associated with parties (no evening can be considered a success without guests ‘swinging from the chandeliers’) and, perhaps, with peril: think of that scene in The Duchess when the feathered wig belonging to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, played by Keira Knightley, catches on a candle and sets spectacularly alight… These light fixtures have brought overhead opulence to grand houses for more than 500 years, and today are enjoying renewed popularity.
In Britain, wealthy households were lit by flat, torch-bearing wooden or iron coronas until the 16th century, when the aristocracy started to rent portable brass chandeliers for house parties and balls. ‘They would always be hung around the edges of a room, so the wax wouldn’t drip onto the dancers,’ says Jill Perry, the co-director of Norfolk Decorative Antiques, which provides pieces to clients such as the designer Rose Uniacke and members of the Royal Family. ‘The tapers would be linked by a thread running between them, so a butler’s match need only happen upon a single wick for the flame to eventually light all its neighbours.’
Ornamental chandeliers as we know them today originated in the workshops of 17th-century Venice for colourful Murano pieces, and Bohemia for crystal, which the French used extensively in Versailles. The English elite embraced the ornate Louis XIV look, and eagerly imported lavish lighting from the continent until the demand prompted fine glassmaking companies to launch in Britain in the 18th century. Among these, the most famous remain William Parker and his eventual business partner William Perry. Parker and Perry made several show-stoppers for Royal residences, including a pair replete with beaded swags for Carlton House that now hang in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, although the quartet in the Blue Drawing Room shine even brighter. Today, their exquisite pieces sell for six figures at auction.
The invention of the lightbulb in 1879 saw many homeowners send their chandeliers off to be converted to electricity. ‘After that, art deco and art nouveau became fashionable, and eventually the appetite for antique lighting pretty much vanished,’ says Jill Perry (no relation to William). ‘Then, about 20 years ago, there was a sudden surge of interest, and it’s been like that ever since.’ Early 20thcentury pineapple-topped chandeliers from France are among her bestsellers. ‘We put it down to the winning combination of the fruit’s modern-looking flamboyance and its fascinating history: the nobility would install pineapple cupolas on the pinnacles of their stately homes or hang them in doorways as a symbol of welcome,’ she says.
Liz Denton, a partner at Denton Antiques – the Kensington dealer that the high-society interior decorator Nina Campbell describes as ‘the most remarkable chandelier shop on Earth’ – has found that classic Georgian ‘tent-andbag’ cut-glass styles are perennial favourites with both seasoned and first-time buyers. ‘There is something wonderful that happens when light is reflected through glass and creates a thousand rainbows. A certain romance, or delight – a lifting of the spirit,’ she says, bringing to mind the sparkling English crystal masterpieces made for Spencer House by Wilkinson, the Queen’s glass restorer of choice.
Denton has also observed a growing enthusiasm for more vibrant – even novelty – varieties, whether incandescent glass sailing ships, leafy tôle peinte (painted tin) structures strewn with porcelain buds, or the frilly, pastel-hued Venetian invention known as a ciocca, which designers interpret as a floral bouquet.
As ever, Britons with modish tastes in furnishings are following in footsteps long since trodden by the Royal Family, and if seeking inspiration, one can see magnificent pieces in many regal residences. Prince Charles’ Dumfries House is home to a fabulous pink Murano confection laden with glass tulips, orchids and carnations, while in Osborne House, your eye will be drawn upwards to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s 19th-century Austrian chandelier, with trumpeting lilies, morning glories and emerald-green leaves woven through its branches.
For further illumination, visit Houghton Hall to admire its wonderfully rococo giltwood pendant in the Stone Hall, and Waddesdon Manor for the host of historic crystal treasures alongside a suspended, sculptural light commissioned in 2003 by Lord Rothschild from smashed china plates. This, along with Port Eliot’s feather and flower creations, masterminded by the late set designer Michael Howells, is proof that contemporary innovation can blend beautifully with traditional grandeur. Next time a room needs lighting, whether in a palace or a pied-à-terre, consider the chandelier: its glow, glamour and sense of drama are unrivalled. Let there be lustre!