$3,120Sale Price|20% Off
French Empire Style Gilt Bronze and Glass Spherical Chandelier
Located in Montreal, QC
Gilt bronze and frosted glass chandelier modelled as a globe with three lights covered in beaded shades, pendant from eagle beaks.
Ormolu
Exceptional 19th Century Bronze and Crystal Russian Empire Style Chandelier
Located in Long Island City, NY
An Exceptional Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze and Beaded Seven Light Russian Empire Style Drop Crystal Chandelier The beautiful crown with a frosted etched crystal ball and dome, abo...
Crystal, Bronze, Ormolu
Fine Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Russian Empire Style Baccarat Chandelier
Located in Long Island City, NY
A Fine Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze and Beaded Basket Eighteen Light Baccarat Crystal Chandelier In the Russian Empire Style. Six perimeter lights shaped as torches and twelve int...
Crystal, Bronze, Ormolu
French Belle Epoque Empire style Gasolier and Oil Reservoir Chandelier
Located in Montreal, QC
This most unusual fixture was once gas and oil and has been subsequently electrified. It has a pair of globe shades mounted on oil reservoirs flanking a central light , it also has ...
Bronze, Ormolu
Large and Important Early 20th Century Gilt Bronze Empire Style Chandelier
Located in Long Island City, NY
A Large and Important Early 20th Century Gilt Bronze Twenty Four Light Empire Style Chandelier The wonderful casted all bronze frame decorated with empire designs, with bronze chai...
Bronze, Ormolu
Late 19th/Early 20th Century Bronze and Beaded Empire Style Basket Chandelier
Located in Long Island City, NY
An Important Late 19th/Early 20th Century Gilt Bronze and Beaded Twenty Four Light Empire Style Basket Chandelier With a crystal dome crown and bronze empire designs, twenty four ti...
Crystal, Bronze, Ormolu
Early 20th Century Gilt and Patinated Bronze Nine-Light Empire Style Chandelier
By Raingo Frères
Located in Long Island City, NY
An Interesting early 20th century gilt and patinated bronze nine-light Empire style chandelier. Three curtain designed ropes run from the top to the body, centred by a large urn, si...
Bronze, Ormolu
Antique Gilt Bronze and Opaline Glass Chandelier
Located in London, GB
This beautiful, tall chandelier is ideal for a grand entrance hall or room where it can be seen and admired. It is an exceptional piece of Empire style design, perfectly combining gl...
Ormolu
$22,561 / set
Pair of Neoclassical Style Gilt Bronze Chandeliers
Located in London, GB
Designed to mimic the appearance of a star-studded celestial globe, theses Empire style chandeliers are simultaneously charming and outstandingly beautiful. Each chandelier is design...
Ormolu, Metal, Bronze
Napoleon III Period Gilt and Patinated Bronze Chandelier
Located in London, GB
This unusual chandelier is designed in the Empire style from gilt and patinated bronze in the form of an ancient Roman terracotta or earthenware oil lamp. The patinated bronze bowl o...
Ormolu, Bronze
French early 19th Century twelve light gilded chandelier attributed to Thomire
By Pierre-Philippe Thomire
Located in GB
An impressive gilt and patinated bronze French Empire chandelier with twelve lights, attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843). Winged Victory figures wearing classical robes...
Ormolu
Antique Gilt Bronze and Patinated Metal 19th Century French Chandelier
Located in London, GB
Antique gilt bronze and patinated metal 19th Century French chandelier French, late 19th Century Dimensions: Height 83cm, diameter 60cm Designed in the elegant French Empire sty...
Metal, Ormolu
French Empire Style Ebonized Gilt Bronze Chandelier
Located in Queens, NY
French Empire-style (19th Century) ebonized and gilt bronze 6 arm chandelier suspended by 3 black and gilt bronze link extensions with a flame finial top and acorn finial bottom.
Ormolu
Chandeliers — simple in form, inspired by candelabras and originally made of wood or iron — first made an appearance in early churches. For those wealthy enough to afford them for their homes in the medieval period, a chandelier's suspended lights likely exuded imminent danger, as lit candles served as the light source for fixtures of the era. Things have thankfully changed since then, and antique chandeliers and pendant lights are popular in many interiors today.
While gas lighting during the late 18th century represented an upgrade for chandeliers — and gas lamps would long inspire Danish architect and pioneering modernist lighting designer Poul Henningsen — it would eventually be replaced with the familiar electric lighting of today.
The key difference between a pendant light and a chandelier is that a pendant incorporates only a single bulb into its design. Don’t mistake this for simplicity, however. An Art Deco–styled homage to Sputnik from Murano glass artisans Giovanni Dalla Fina, with handcrafted decorative elements supported by a chrome frame, is just one stunning example of the elaborate engineering that can be incorporated into every component of a chandelier. (Note: there is more than one lighting fixture that shares its name with the iconic mid-century-era satellite — see Gino Sarfatti’s design too.)
Chandeliers have evolved over time, but their classic elegance has remained unchanged.
Not only will the right chandelier prove impressive in a given room, but it can also offer a certain sense of practicality. These fixtures can easily illuminate an entire space, while their elevated position prevents them from creating glare or straining one’s eyes.
Certain materials, like glass, can complement naturally lit settings without stealing the show. Brass, on the other hand, can introduce an alluring, warm glow. While LEDs have earned a bad reputation for their perceived harsh bluish lights and a loss of brightness over their life span, the right design choices can help harness their lighting potential and create the perfect mood. A careful approach to lighting can transform your room into a peaceful and cozy nook, ideal for napping, reading or working.
For midsize spaces, a wall light or sconce can pull the room together and get the lighting job done. Perforated steel rings underneath five bands of handspun aluminum support a rich diffusion of light within Alvar Aalto's Beehive pendant light, but if you’re looking to brighten a more modest room, perhaps a minimalist solution is what you’re after. The mid-century modern furniture designer Charlotte Perriand devised her CP-1 wall lamps in the 1960s, in which a repositioning of sheet-metal plates can redirect light as needed.
The versatility and variability of these lighting staples mean that, when it comes to finding something like the perfect chandelier, you’ll never be left hanging. From the natural world-inspired designs of the Art Nouveau era to the classic beauty of Paul Ferrante's fixtures, there is a style for every room.
With designs for pendant lights and chandeliers across eras, colors and materials, you’ll never run out of options to explore on 1stDibs — shop a collection today that includes antique Art Deco chandeliers, Stilnovo chandeliers, Baccarat chandeliers and more.
Designer Eva Menz wants the light to "evoke curiosity and a sense of wonder."
Working with resin, a tricky material, has created moments of failure — and enlightenment.
Commissioned for the lakeside villa of a Finnish industrialist, it illuminated visits with dignitaries.
Across New York, there’s no shortage of statement lighting on view.
The 1920s design is a thrilling combination of saturated colors, ancient motifs and modern aesthetics.
Designed by a giant of Swedish lighting, the large-scale fixtures bring major drama.
The alluring pendant light exemplifies the designer’s winsome mid-career work.
Before founding the Memphis Group, Sottsass bent the rules of lighting design with the wonderfully wavy Cometa.