A Six-light chandelier in hammered iron and gilt bronze

Hammered and forged iron, gilt bronze, rock crystal, iron and copper rivets
Italy or France
First half of the 18th century
75 x 60 cm

Six-light chandelier in hammered and forged iron and gilt bronze, adorned with rock crystal pendants, stars, rosettes, beads, and drops. The rocaille decoration of the gilt bronze nozzles and drip pans can be found on a chandelier at the Palazzo de Cava de' Tirreni in Campania and dated between 1740 and 1760, which supports the hypothesis of an Italian manufacture — probably Piedmontese, moreover suggested by the use of ferro battuto. The remarkably rocaille style of the nozzles and drip pans, as well as the few gilt bronze motifs in the shape of chicory leaves, also makes a French manufacture plausible — such pieces in iron or steel and gilt bronze having also been produced in France under the Regency and under Louis XV, in Paris as well as in Provence.