Regency Cut-Glass Eight-Light Chandelier, c. 1820

Regency Gilt-Brass and Cut-Glass Eight-Light Chandelier
English, circa 1820

Centered by a broad cut-glass dish within a gilt-metal frame, eight scrolling candle arms are fitted with cut-glass drip pans and hung with graduated faceted drops. Faceted glass chains rise to a cylindrical upper corona beneath a foliate gilt-metal canopy, with further drops suspended throughout. Distinctive eagle-headed gilt-metal mounts punctuate the central frame.

The extensive cutting of the glass is as functional as it is decorative. Each facet bends and reflects light, while dispersion separates white light into flashes of color. Multiplied across hundreds of cut surfaces, the effect is one of exceptional brilliance and movement—qualities for which English Regency cut glass was particularly prized.

Some objects are best seen in daylight. This one is quite the opposite—the minute the lights come on, everything changes. For me, the appeal is entirely in the light: every cut, drop, and facet suddenly has a reason for being there, and unlike so much lighting I come across, this has real age. It's the real deal.