Chandeliers come with some preconceptions. Most shoppers think of the romance and nostalgia of Edwardian and Victorian manor houses. You might think of the enormous hangings in grand palaces like Versailles.
The chandeliers of grand ballrooms, elegant theaters, and prestigious commercial buildings hung in tiers from which hung crystal pendants, teardrops, or bangles. They assured an impression of wealth with light, glass, and dazzling ornament.
But, pendants of contemporary décor turns away from the traditional version of lush and plush in favor of a new elegance. The elegance of Art Deco comes from a different sensibility. Where wealth once meant super-abundance, Art Deco brings craft to the design work.
Art Deco integrated several design approaches of its day. It wove together elements of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau, and the German Bauhaus school. It emphasized streamlined curves, geometric shapes, and prized materials. It would dominate design from the 1920s to the mid-1940s. And, it has not disappeared yet.
The elegance of Art Deco light fixtures began with the use of luxury materials like crystal, ivory, and jade, but it would evolve with the introduction and innovative use of new materials like aluminum, chrome, and plastics. Its artistry arose in part from its inventive integration of the new and old.
They also put a new emphasis on creating design and art through developing technologies. It was an industrial age where tech crafts could use the decorative arts to convey messages of speed, flight, and optimism. Art Deco was practical and elegant at the same time.
The elegance of Art Deco has some universal qualities that keep it on the interior designer’s canvas. You might try Cassian, our new Art Deco chandelier light fixture, as a perfect example of the agelessness of Art Deco traditions.
Cassian is a pendant fixture that is 28-inches high and 25.5-inches wide, but it hangs 40-inches from the ceiling. The satin brass structure supports five tiers of textured glass from thin graceful hooks. The shape and tiered crystals recall past elegance with romance and nostalgia.
But, these crystal “bangles” are five-cornered convoluted tubes of crackled glass that evoke industrial design themes. The brass infrastructure is barely visible among the hanging glass pendants, but the brass and the glass reflect, refract, and redistribute the light of nine.
Cassian brings Art Deco elegance up to date. It adds that lacey and airy grace to something purely functional. Take away the materials, and you have a utilitarian simplicity. Add the brass and crystal, and you have a crafted sculpture.