A Louis XIV style gilt-bronze and cut-glass eighteen-light chandelier, 20th century

This chandelier was created by twentieth-century craftsmen as a tribute to the forms of ornament that were in fashion during the reign of the great Sun King, Louis XIV of France. This monumental Baroque style was based on the principles of Classical architecture but often incorporated so-called 'arabesque' decoration, as inspired by Jean Bérain's designs, and also the supple strapwork of the Franco-Dutch designer Daniel Marot, which are paralleled in the candle arms of this chandelier in particular. Masks and term figures were also common, not only in chandeliers but also in stylistically parallel forms such as wall lights or furniture mounts.

The general use of gilt bronze as a material for decorative art gathered momentum in the later part of the Louis XIV period, allowing for the creation of superb gilt-bronze chandeliers by the early eighteenth century. André-Charles Boulle made numerous chandeliers in this manner, including one that is in the Louvre (OA 10513) and another that now hangs in the Bibliothèque Mazarine - the latter incorporates torsos of female figures in a manner that clearly demonstrates how this model has taken influence from period examples.

The use of cut-glass drops extensively throughout a chandelier became common later in the eighteenth century: compare, for instance, the spectacular thirty-two-light example from the 1740s that sold for €1.3m at Sotheby's Paris, 16th March 2005, lot 134.