Rock crystal chandelier, Paris, Louis XIV period

Rare six-light chandelier in gilt bronze and rock crystal.
The central shaft is composed of small bronze balusters threaded into a central abraded iron rod and interspersed with eight eight-branched discs; the lower part is terminated by a disc from which six light arms emerge, supporting cups and bobeches, and six console arms holding pendants.
The whole is connected by a metal trellis with laces adorned with rock crystal beads, pear-shaped, rosettes, twisted ovals, etc.
The laces of the upper disc form a royal crown topped with a thick bronze fleur-de-lis.

Very well preserved, some rock crystal elements missing or replaced, later ball.

French work from the Louis XIV period, circa 1680-1700.

Dimensions:

Height: 100 cm; Diameter: 75 cm

Similar models:

- A similar chandelier can be seen in an oil on canvas preserved at the Palace of Versailles (MV 4366) depicting a meeting of the Council of Ministers in the presence of Cardinal Fleury and the Regent around 1720.

- A similar chandelier with eight arms of light, with a carved wooden frame, was sold for the exorbitant sum of 3,000 pounds to the Swedish Court in 1754; it is still preserved today at Drottningholm Palace.
It is published in Pierre Verlet's book "Les bronzes dorés Français du XVIIIème siècle" (French Gilded Bronzes of the 18th Century), Paris, 1987, p. 93, fig. 103.

Our opinion:

The sublime fleur-de-lis crowning our chandelier most likely refers to a production intended for the crown. The dense latticework with a profusion of rock crystal and the tightly packed shape topped with a crown allow us to date it to the end of the reign of Louis XIV or the very beginning of the Regency.
At that time, this type of production was exclusively reserved for the court due to the rarity of rock crystal, which required perilous searches in the Alps.
Each piece of natural quartz was harvested with an ice axe by mountaineers, often working at the risk of their lives. Once cleaned, the precious product was polished and cut like a diamond.
This semi-precious stone, which can be translucent or frosted like ice, is sought after for its high index of refraction of light, which gives it an inimitable brilliance.
In addition to its use in lighting, it has been considered a lucky charm associated with vitality since ancient times. King Louis XIV was one of the greatest rock crystal collectors of his time, with his collection comprising 532 pieces in 1723. His son, the Dauphin, would share the same passion.
A crystal factory opened in Besançon, but it was insufficient to meet the royal demand, and Italian crystals from the Republic of Genoa or the Duchy of Milan fetched very high prices.
This rarity prevailed throughout the 18th century, but it was particularly in the first half of the century that this fashion reached its peak, before industrial glass or crystal, invented during the reign of Louis XVI, supplanted this precious commodity.
Few people could boast of owning such a chandelier, which was worth the price of a fine residence at that time. In May 1738, the Duke of Luynes mentioned a value of 100,000 livres for the rock crystal chandelier in King Louis XV's bedroom at Versailles. Another chandelier sold for 16,000 livres after the death of the Duke of Tallard in 1754. Even the great merchant Lazare Duvaux mentioned only two small chandeliers in his journal, including a six-light chandelier (4,690 livres) that he sold to the tax farmer Bouret de Villaumont, and another four-light chandelier (1,200 livres) to the Marquise de Pompadour.
The rarity was such that, when cleaning a chandelier for the royal mistress, he mentioned "the Marquise's chandelier at Versailles," as if she only owned one.
Few of these chandeliers have survived, especially in a very fine state of preservation; The example we are presenting corresponds to the reign of Louis XIV, that is to say to the beginning of production, at a time when only the crown could afford this kind of exorbitant expense.