IN THE MUSEUMS
Two chiselled, gilded bronze girandoles
with rock crystal beads -Louis XV era
Provenance: Kraemer Gallery
J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Each of these girandoles is made up of seven pyramid-shaped arms that stand among rock crystal beads. The stem sits on a triangular, polylobed pedestal made of chiselled, gilded bronze.
The word “girandole” is derived from the Italian word girandola. The rock crystal drops help amplify, reflect, and refract the light emitted by the candles. In Versailles, during the reign of Louis XIV, girandoles were often placed on tall gueridons to light up the room. In some places, semi-girandoles sat on mantlepieces so that the light was reflected in the trumeau mirrors hung right above.
