Art Institute of Chicago

Chandelier

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin

Date

1852

Medium

Brass and enamels

Culture

England

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The motifs on this chandelier—including trefoils, quatrefoils, and scrolling foliage—were favorites of designer Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, who was inspired by the ornamentation of medieval architecture. A leading figure in the Gothic Revival and a convert to Catholicism, Pugin believed that a return to Gothic design in both religious and secular settings would help England reconnect with what he viewed as the superior morals and society of the medieval period. Pugin introduced this style of chandelier, which combines the medieval Flemish tradition of brass casting with the technical capabilities of industrial manufacturing, at London’s Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851. This particular piece, which is among his most monumental designs for domestic spaces, was commissioned by Henrietta Pole in 1853 for Aldenham Abbey (also known as Wall Hall) in Hertfordshire, England, where it remained for over a century. The coats of arms of her family and her husband, Sir William Stuart, hang between the lower branches.

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