Bagatelle 67cm Chandelier in Antique Silver

This is the lower of the two 11-lamp Bagatelles, 67cm across and 62cm tall, so it reads wider than it is high. Eight scrolled arms carry candle lamps around a central lyre. Below them hangs the part that defines the family: a fluted crystal bowl, which Schonbek calls a Bohemian basket and traces to the Victorian hanging lantern. Three smaller lamps sit out of sight inside the body, so the crystal is lit from within as well as from the arms.

Rosettes, pear-shaped drops and garlands of crystal are strung across the metalwork. All of it is Heritage Handcut: Schonbek has craftsmen in Europe cut each facet on iron and sandstone wheels, in two stages, then polish it with marble dust on a wooden wheel, working from gems it says came from Habsburg castles. The frame is finished by hand and the crystal pinned by hand. Adolph Schonbek founded the house in Bohemia in 1870.

In the room

Being shallow, this is the Bagatelle for an ordinary ceiling. Over a table about 110 to 130cm wide, set the base 80cm above the top: that puts the base about 155cm from the floor and the top of the body at 217cm, so a 2.7m ceiling leaves 53cm for chain and canopy. To walk beneath it with 2.1m clear, allow about 2.8m. As a centre light it suits a room of roughly 4m by 4m. The 102cm chain reaches table height in ceilings up to about 3.2m; beyond that, a longer chain needs specifying. Where height is plentiful, the Bagatelle 67cm Chandelier in Heirloom Gold has the same spread and lamps at 74cm tall.

Antique Silver is a mottled, aged surface with little shine, so against pale panelling the frame recedes and the eye goes to the crystal. Clear candle lamps give the drops a hard point to split, and the flutes of the bowl draw the hidden lamps into vertical bands.

Made to order by Schonbek, headquartered in Plattsburgh, New York.

Specification

• Collection: Bagatelle, Schonbek Signature
• Dimensions: Ø67 x H62cm
• Chain: 102cm
• Weight: 10.4kg
• Crystal: Heritage Handcut, clear
• Finish: Antique Silver
• Light source: 8 x E14 B35, 40W maximum each, and 3 x E14 T26, 25W maximum each
• Model: 1238E, 220V

Every Bagatelle is made to order. Caspen works through the specification with you, chain and lamps included, and confirms the lead time when you order. Schonbek also lists this family in Radiance crystal and in other finishes, among them French Gold and Aurelia, and those requests go through the studio.