Traditional chandeliers add elegance to a room,
Traditional ceiling chandeliers are vintage lighting: they are actual antiques or, more likely and far less costly, reproductions of antiques. Vintage chandeliers manufactured today are based on an array of styles from America and Europe produced in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Traditional chandeliers add elegance and appeal to home designs. They are used in dining rooms, foyers, halls, living-room areas and, most recently, kitchens.
History
These chandeliers are much more elaborate than those that first appeared in churches.
The first chandeliers appeared in medieval times, from the 5th to the 15th centuries, in churches. They were shaped like a cross, with candles at each end of the cross that would be lit before the unit was hoisted by rope to the ceiling, After the 15th century, chandeliers became more ornate and their popularity increased. By the 18th century, they lit the homes of the wealthy. Then, many were elaborate and cast in brass, with numerous candles and curved arms--extensions from the column, or center of the chandelier, which held the candle cups.
Crystal
Crystal chandeliers sparkle with light.
In the 18th century, glass production techniques developed and it became cheaper to produce lead crystal, specially cut glass treated with lead oxide to produce the famous, highly reflective and sparkling light. Crystal chandeliers appeared then. The best known types of crystals developed include Swarovski, Royal and Venetian. The color denseness, clarity and diffusion of light determine the quality or crystals. Traditional crystal chandeliers can be simple or complex, with massive amounts of crystals in a variety of shapes.
Traditional Chandeliers
Arms of a chandelier.
Vintage chandeliers may be small, medium or large with a varying number of tiers that hold the shaded lights. The number of lights ranges from three to as many as 30 for many-tiered, very large chandeliers. They can be ornate, with decorated and scrolling arms, glistening pendants on and curvaceous or hand-painted columns. Frames may be solid brass, wrought iron, pewter or polymer, material made from chemical compounds. Finishes include hand-polished brass, antique silver, satin nickel and weathered iron.
American Vintage Styles
Many traditional chandeliers are based on early American designs. For example, there are polished-brass chandeliers styled after 17th-century colonial Georgia ones. Another style is a replication of the chandelier that once hung in an elegant, American hotel in the 19th-century gilded age. Still other chandeliers are reproductions of ones from the colonial era, from 1607 to 1754. With balls often found at the bottom of the columns, their arms are usually elegant and their finishes in polished brass.
European Traditional Styles
Many traditionally styled chandeliers replicate vintage European designs. The period pieces replicated include those from the Queen Anne era, Italian porcelain styles or Holland delft, a well-known blue-and-white ceramic. Some of these chandeliers have elaborate scroll work and/or contain shades with etched or rippled glass. There are even replications of a chandelier once lighting a centuries-old railroad station in London. Although traditional chandeliers reproduce former-era styles, they are made with such modern features as energy savers and dimmers.
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