BY EDWARD F. CALDWELL AND CO., NEW YORK, CIRCA 1915

The firm of Edward F. Caldwell & Co. was the preeminent designer and retailer of fine lighting fixtures and decorations to the captains of industry who heralded America’s Gilded Age. Known for their European-inspired decorations which often rivaled the best French foundries, the firm received commissions from a host of affluent clientele whose lavish homes lined Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and sprung up on the shores of Newport and Long Island’s ‘Gold Coast’. As chief designer at Archer & Pancoast Manufacturing Co., producers of gaslight and electric fixtures, Caldwell oversaw designs provided to the renowned architectural firm McKim, Mead & White. Caldwell’s genius ultimately left a lasting impression on the architectural titan, Stanford White, particularly following their collaboration on fixtures for the New York State Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The pair would often partner on residential and commercial projects following the establishment of Caldwell’s New York foundry in 1895.