Wednesday, November 23, 2005

I may not blog again this week. My mother-in-law is visiting for Thanksgiving.

Since she’s a huge fan of Schonbek crystal chandeliers, however, and she will be saying nice things about mine, as she always does, I will be thinking of crystal chandeliers over the long weekend. And my friend Kileh may stop by, too, and she wants advice on a crystal chandelier for a new space she’s renovating.

Crystal chandeliers really add a lot to the fun of a holiday. Guests always feel you’ve honored them by making your home as beautiful as possible. Every day feels a little like a holiday, when you live with a Schonbek crystal chandelier.

And that means something, coming from me, since I’m a bit of a workaholic and don’t even take all the vacation time I could.

Perhaps people like me need crystal chandeliers more than anyone...

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

I’m planning a visit to New York to see the Fra Angelico exhibit. This reminds me of my visit to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco last spring.

Lovers of crystal chandeliers are usually art lovers, too. The Legion of Honor is a delightful museum, as I expected it would be. The surprise was that I encountered two very fascinating antique crystal chandeliers there.

Studying these crystal chandeliers, I recalled things Andrew Schonbek had told me about chandelier styles in different parts of Europe. I had often written about the depth of knowledge Schonbek family members possess on the evolution of crystal chandelier design over the centuries. Now I was realizing in a very immediate way how true it was.

A magnificent Versailles-style chandelier took center stage in one room. The curator’s note on the wall said, “France c. 1750.” I was looking at a true ancestor of the Versailles and Renaissance collections by Schonbek. There was the airy open-cage construction I’d been taught to describe as “authentic to the period.” There were the dramatic crystal spikes. The crystal was genuine rock crystal, big chunks of it, obviously handcut, because man-made crystal was not in general use yet in the ornamenting of crystal chandeliers.

The crystal star ornaments on this chandelier intrigued me. I must confess I’d always found it hard to believe in the historic origins of crystal stars. They seem so contemporary. But just as we in the twenty-first century feel attracted to star motifs, so did people in the eighteenth century. Here was the proof.

Then I wandered into another period room with a huge crystal chandelier, this one described as “Russian c. 1790.” It was ornamented with cut crystal. Around this time, artisans and their patrons were drifting away from using rock crystal because of its rarity. They were starting to favor crystal as we know it today, which is actually ornamental glass.

This crystal chandelier featured a design element that may also be seen in a Schonbek design called Kirov. It’s a little circular swirl of crystal icicles. Crystal stars figure in Kirov, too. Kirov has a whimsical quality, yet it’s steeped in tradition. Many Schonbek crystal chandelier designs are like this, bringing a contemporary feeling to historic styling.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Like so many things in life, a crystal chandelier is subject to interpretation. In designing Early American, for example, Schonbek was inspired by the spare look of American colonial furnishings.

Later, an interior designer I spoke with said he considered this crystal chandelier in keeping with French Provincial styling. Check out the beautiful room he designed with Early American.

My friend Lee put an Early American in one of her rental units. Her thought was that this crystal chandelier, in its simplicity, would go with most types of furniture that a tenant was likely to have. And this must be true, as she never lacks for tenants.

I also remember being in a focus group with New York City interior designers. They singled out Early American for praise. Again, it was the simplicity of the chandelier that appealed to them.

Perhaps Early American would also be a good choice for someone who wants a crystal chandelier but is afraid of going overboard.

Even the crystal type used to trim this design is understated. It’s Venetian, which means molded rather than cut. Venetian crystal has a venerable tradition going back many centuries, but it’s not at all glitzy. The edges are somewhat rounded from fire polishing. And the prismatic effects are subtle.

Early American really is a lovely crystal chandelier, and it comes in several configurations. I’d encourage you to visit a lighting showroom if you’d like to see more styles than shown on this website.