Chandelier, the late 19th – Q1 of the 20th century, the National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art, Tt-10327. Photo by Povilas Jarmala, 2019 A fragment of the chandelier, the late 19th – Q1 of the 20th century, the National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art, Tt-10327. Photo by Povilas Jarmala, 2019 A fragment of the chandelier, the late 19th – Q1 of the 20th century, the National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art, Tt-10327. Photo by Povilas Jarmala, 2019 A fragment of the chandelier, the late 19th – Q1 of the 20th century, the National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art, Tt-10327. Photo by Povilas Jarmala, 2019 A fragment of the chandelier, the late 19th – Q1 of the 20th century, the National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art, Tt-10327. Photo by Povilas Jarmala, 2019 A chandelier designed by a professor from Vienna Nic. Hofmann in 1897. Reproduced from: the Library of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, 7.03(051)Bl-17.

The National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art

Inv. No. Tt-10327

Address: V. Putvinskio str. 55, Kaunas

Time of origin: 1887–1911

Place of origin: Austria (?) / Germany (?)

Material, Technique: bronze, copper tin: casting, repoussé

Dimensions: height – 52 cm, diameter – 50 cm

      A simple-structure chandelier belongs to the stem type. The chandelier uses electricity for lighting. Therefore, it has only three arms, and this is sufficient to illuminate a particular part of the room. The model of the chandelier was designed at a time when lighting by electricity was still a major innovation. At the end of the 19th century, drawings of the chandeliers in the catalogues of European manufacturers show the light bulbs openly, and they were especially highlighted in the ware.

The chandelier from the National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art is decorated in moderation and completely unlike the production of the Warsaw lighting manufacturers of the 2nd half of the 19th century. It is the most similar with the chandeliers designed by a professor from Vienna Nic. Hofmann in 1897 [1] (one of the examples is in Figure 6). Acanthus leaves decorate the arms of both chandeliers. They are placed in a small round box and turned to the sides. The special fasteners that remain at the terminals of each arm testify to the former-present glass caps.

The chandelier is an industrial ware most likely made in Austria or Germany and reflects the fashions of the first European chandeliers designed for light bulbs. The chandelier has many similarities with the chandelier of a similar period preserved in the Samogitian Museum ‘Alka’ (Inv. No. is unknown).

Literature and sources:
  1. Blatter fur kunstgewerbe organ des wiener kunstgewerbe-vereins <...> (Vienos pramonės dailės asociacijos išleisti dailės kūrinių lakštai), in: VDA SRSS, 7.03(051)Bl-17.
  2. Valtaitė-Gagač Alantė, XVII a.–XX a. 4 dešimtmečio sietynų paveldas Lietuvoje: Daktaro disertacija, Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademija, 2015, p. 236.