Morning Glory Chandelier

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Morning Glory Chandelier

Manufacturer J. & L. Lobmeyr (Austrian, 1823-present)

Dateabout 1850-1860

DimensionsH: 36 in. (91.4 cm); Diam: 27 in. (68.6 cm)

MediumGlass; molded, enameled, gilded

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

2005.96

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 34, Jewelry Gallery

DescriptionTransparent green and opalescent glass. Cast and gilded bronze frame. Gilded bronze chandelier with six S-curved arms and an equal number of bronze stems generating from a central cast bronze basket hiding the receiver plate, the whole suspended from a bronze rod. The stems support molded transparent green leaves with painted gold veins. Morning glory vines consisting of bronze wire, enameled opaline glass blossoms and transparent green leaves entwine the rod and chandelier arms. Morning glory blossoms serve as candle cups.

Label TextMade in the mid-1800s, this morning glory chandelier recalls Rococo floral chandeliers made with porcelain or tôle (painted tin) blossoms that were fashionable in the private quarters of French-style 18th-century chateaux in Europe. Since the morning glory flower blooms and dies within a single day, it came to signify love, affection, or mortality in the Victorian era. A drawing of a chandelier covered in morning glory vines from about 1850 by Ludwig Lobmeyr, then owner of the venerable chandelier maker J. & L. Lobmeyr in Vienna, remains in the company archives. The design was most likely created in preparation for Lobmeyr’s participation in the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851—the first World’s Fair. Queen Victoria purchased a large chandelier of this type at the fair for Osborne House, her new summer retreat on the Isle of Wight, and consequently such charming chandeliers became exceedingly popular. A similar chandelier, now lost, was commissioned by the ill-fated Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico (who was executed in1867); another is still at Pena National Palace in Sintra, Portugal.Published ReferencesMallett Antiques, Ltd., The Lighting Sale, 2005, pp. 42-45.Comparative ReferencesSee also Peter Rath et al., Helles Glas und klares Licht, 1998, p. 41, no. 18.