Lithuanian National Museum of Art
Inv. No. TM-2334
Address: Arsenalo str. 3A, Vilnius
Time of origin: 1825–1875
Place of origin: Central Europe
Material, Technique: bronze: casting
Dimensions: height – 20 cm, diameter – 52 cm
A small stem type chandelier with six arms is preserved in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. The chandelier is a typical, and it looks like without the upper part of the stem. It starts immediately from the disc to receive the arms and terminates beneath with the profiled, gradually pointing finial*. Each hole at the top of the disc to receive the arm was marked by a caster with a specific number of embossed dots. S-shaped arms of the chandelier are slightly decorated with ornament of knob leaves, and the terminals closer to the stem are scrolled into volutes. Sconces are decorated with the ornamental stripes of small leaves. Drip pans (sauces to catch falling wax) are deep and functional.
Based on the ornamentation of the arms, the quality and nature of their performance, the chandelier was imported from Central Europe. Historicism (neo-Renaissance, neo-Regency) features seen in the chandelier allows the ware date to the 2nd–3rd quarter of the 19th century.
* Finial [in Latin finire means to end or to complete] — lilac blossom, bud or draped vase-shape decoration. It was used in architecture and furniture decoration. Bulb, fruit, leaves or flower bouquet — decoration of the same purpose — is also called finial [1].
Literature and sources:- Dailės žodynas, Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 1999, p. 125.
- Valtaitė-Gagač Alantė, XVII a.–XX a. 4 dešimtmečio sietynų paveldas Lietuvoje: Daktaro disertacija, Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademija, 2015, p. 222.