MID-19TH CENTURY

Hung all-over with lambrequins and tassels, this chandelier is in the troubadour style - a revival of gothic and Renaissance ornament at the time of the French Restauration and Second Empire. In the decorative arts the style is characterised by gothic flourishes and whimsical curiosities. Here, the lizard dragons entwining themselves around the branches are typical of the style, which was more ornate and romantic than its English and Germanic counterpart, the Gothic revival. It is certainly within the capabilities of the best French bronziers of the period such as Denière pere, Henri Picard or Victor Paillard. A similar chandelier, with baluster stem set with niches enclosing musical putti, was shown at the 1853 Dublin Exhibition by M. Villemsens, 'a bronze manufacturer of very high eminence' (The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Art-Industry in Dublin, 1853, p. 54).