1920s French Wrought Iron Art Deco Chandelier - 3 Shades and Bowl, Floral Motif Glass

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Offering a classic four-light French Art Deco wrought iron chandelier with unsigned but very high quality glass, in the manner … Read more Offering a classic four-light French Art Deco wrought iron chandelier with unsigned but very high quality glass, in the manner of the Schneider company, circa 1925. Gorgeous stylized Art Deco floral motifs appear on the glass, and decorative hammering throughout the metalwork. The clear, molded glass was frosted, then the floral highlights polished, leaving a bit of sparkle in those areas. Oh, those French…such artists!

Originally this ceiling fixture, made of wrought iron, was plated in nickel, but during the 100 years (or so) interim, that plating has been subjected to atmospheric and other disturbances.. Some rust has appeared, but that’s been largely steel-wooled away. You can still see vestiges of the rust if you look closely. One is tempted to say: “nice antique patina!”

The glass bowl fits inside the rim of its holder, but putting it in place and extracting it pose a slight difficulty. Ah, but the clever French had a solution: just chip off a bit of the glass rim, which happens to be excessive anyway, and that makes the operation a lot easier. Fortunately they stopped just short of taking off so much that it would show when installed! As things stand, the bowl can be positioned so that there’s none of the chipped area showing from below, when the fixture is installed on the ceiling. The rest of the bowl is in perfect condition.

The shades are beautifully designed and have an irregular bottom, adding visual interest and separating them from the rest of the herd in terms of rarity and beauty.

This fixture has a brand new American standard-based socket in the center bowl and its original bayonet sockets in the surrounding lights. These are very difficult to replace with American hardware and the French sockets are a hundred times better designed and constructed than anything that might replace them (if it ain’t broke why fix it?). A “reducer” has been installed in each socket so that a screw-in American bulb can be employed. Problem solved.

Each supporting rod has a hook on its end and that hook connected with a small metal bar across the back of each arm. In one instance that bar has broken off, and the creative Frenchman who last owned this fashioned a device which sits in its place. See the photo. It works, is all I can say…

So, yes, there are several compromises here… but, none of these “imperfections” compromises the essential beauty of the chandelier and when it’s hanging in your home, thrilling yourself and your guests, mention need not be made of these matters unless you want to entertain your guests with a good story…

Dimensions: hanging about 30 inches long, having a diameter of about 22. See less