Attribué à GIOVANNI BATTISTA METELLINO († à Milan... Lot n° 40

SIX-LIGHTS LIGHT Milan, circa 1710 Rock crystal; gilded metal and sheet metal H. 82 cm, D. 62 cm This rock crystal chandelier presents four terraces set with chased and gilded metal with foliage motifs, arranged around a string of crystal drops on a metal stem and each carrying six moving branches in gilded metal with acanthus scrolls punctuated by pendants and crystal balusters. The lower terrace supports six light arms finished with gilded and embossed sheet metal flower buds, centered with a rich crystal suspension with facets, channels and dome in doucine. The overall composition evokes certain sets of bands, the "Bandlwerk Ornaments", which made the success of Giovanni Battista Metellino's chandeliers in Europe in the first quarter of the 18th century and of which the Dresden library preserves a drawing (Fig. 1). An example of this type, made in the 1720s, is in Vienna (fig. 2). Closer to ours is the one in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, with twelve arms of lights (fig. 3). Dated from the 1710s, it shows, as here, a lot of arabesques in the Bérain style.