Lithuanian National Museum of Art
Inv. No. MPM-1210
Address: Arsenalo str. 3A, Vilnius
Time of origin: 1900–1911
Place of origin: Central Europe
Material, Technique: metal: casting, repoussé; glass: casting, polishing
Dimensions: height – 86 cm, the diameter of the ring – 41 cm, diameter of the whole chandelier – 65 cm
The Lithuanian National Museum of Art preserves the chandelier produced in an unidentified Central European factory in the early 20th century when the art nouveau style predominated. Exceptional details allow to date the chandelier to this period: chains made of plates and a small-diameter ring that tightens them, wide tin-repoussed rings dominated in the composition of the chandelier and large hood beyond the rings. Strands of round beads hanging in semi-circles, opaque caps of curved edges and repoussed shell ornament on the rings soften the geometric lines of the chandeliers.
It is likely that the chandelier adorned a secular interior in the past. Most likely, when the chandelier was still in use, his metal parts were worn out and were sprayed with valueless bronze powder paints. In the context of the art nouveau chandeliers preserved Lithuania, it is valued for a rare structure.
Literature and sources:- Valtaitė-Gagač Alantė, XVII a.–XX a. 4 dešimtmečio sietynų paveldas Lietuvoje: Daktaro disertacija, Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademija, 2015, p. 216.