LOUIS PERIOD CHANDELIER XIV Made of crystal... Lot 18

LOUIS PERIOD CHANDELIER XIV Made of crystal and rock crystal in the shape of pearls and rosettes, gilded copper, carved and gilded wood, the baluster-shaped shaft surmounted by a fleur-de-lis from which ten arms of light escape; electrified; replacements H. 118 cm (46 ½ in.) D. D.: 72 cm (28 ¼ in.) A Louis XIV gilt-brass mounted, giltwood, crystal and rock-crystal ten light chandelier This type of chandelier known as "à lace" or "en treillage" was already considered extremely valuable in the 18th century. In 1773 the abbot Jaubert, in his work "Dictionnaire des Arts et Métiers", distinguishes three kinds of crystal chandeliers: "à tige découverte, à consoles et à lacé" because of the interlacing of small glass grains with which they are almost entirely covered. Our model belongs to the latter category, and among the chandeliers of this type listed today are the following: A copy with eight arms of light, the shaft without a carved and gilded wooden frame as in our copy, bought in Paris by the Court of Sweden in 1754 for the incredible sum of 3000 pounds and now kept at Drottningholm Palace. The latter is illustrated in P. Verlet "Les bronzes dorés Français du XVIIIe siècle", Paris, 1987, p.93, fig. 103. Another one, with ten arms of light, such as the one we present, is kept at the J.P. Getty Museum in Malibu and illustrated in G. Wilson, "French Furniture and Gilt Bronzes, Baroque and Regency," Catalogue of the J.P. Getty Museum Collection, Los Angeles, 2008, pp.340-341. Finally, an example with eight light arms with an iron frame was part of the collection of the Parisian dealer Didier Aaron in the 1990s. Rare on the market, the last examples with comparable structure and dimensions to be sold are : - Artcurial Paris, July 8, 2014, lot 64 (eight arms of light). - Sotheby's Paris, November 7, 2013, lot 175 (eight arms of light). - Sotheby's Paris, 10 November 2009, lot 21 (ten arms of ligh