Late 19C French Aesthetic Movement Gilt Bronze Chandelier

PRESENTING a GORGEOUS & RARE Late 19C French Aesthetic Movement Gilt Bronze Chandelier.

Made in France circa 1890-1900 during the very ‘short lived’, French Aesthetic Movement.

The French Aesthetic Movement only lasted for about 10 years, namely 1890-1900 and pieces from this short period are RARE and HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER!

This is a 3 Branch chandelier/pendant, made of beautiful gilt bronze, with the original frosted glass floral shades (removeable).

The style of it’s construction is very ‘French’ and on first impression, appears to be somewhat ‘Rococo Revival (Third Republic) /Belle Epoque’ in style with it’s scrolling acanthus branches, acorn finial, etc.

BUT, then you see the style of the square arms of the branch columns and the other details on the main chandelier body ‘and they appear to be very much “Arts & Crafts” or “Art Nouveau” in style.

It is these details, that lead us to the conclusion, that this is a transition piece. It was designed and made between the ‘Rococo Revival (Third Republic) /Belle Epoque’ period and the “Arts & Crafts/Art Nouveau’ periods.

Therefore, it is obviously, a RARE French ‘Aesthetic Movement’ piece!

The piece is in EXCELLENT original condition. The gilt work is still vibrant. The frosted glass shades are the originals to the piece, with no chips or cracks.

In perfect working condition!

Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be produced to be beautiful, rather than to serve a moral, allegorical, or other didactic purpose, a sentiment exemplified by the slogan “art for art’s sake.” Aestheticism originated in 1860s England with a radical group of artists and designers, including William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It flourished in the 1870s and 1880s, gaining prominence and the support of notable writers such as Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde.

Aestheticism challenged the values of mainstream Victorian culture, as many Victorians believed that literature and art fulfilled important ethical roles. Writing in The Guardian, Fiona McCarthy states that “the aesthetic movement stood in stark and sometimes shocking contrast to the crass materialism of Britain in the 19th century.”

Aestheticism was named by the critic Walter Hamilton in The Aesthetic Movement in England in 1882. By the 1890s, decadence, a term with origins in common with aestheticism, was in use across Europe.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestheticism

Contemporary critics of Aestheticism included William Morris and John Ruskin and, in Russia, Leo Tolstoy, who questioned the value of art divorced from morality. Yet the movement focused attention on the formal aesthetics of art and contributed to the art criticism of Roger Fry and Bernard Berenson. Aestheticism shared certain affinities with the French Symbolist movement, fostered the Arts and Crafts Movement, and sponsored Art Nouveau.

Link: https://www.britannica.com/art/Aestheticism