This beautiful and unique vintage chandelier from the Atomic Era is an iconic model created by celebrated Italian designer Gaetano Sciolari for the prestigious lighting company Lightolier. It was made in two versions, brass and chrome. This is the chrome version.
About Gaetano Sciolari:
The work of celebrated mid-century Italian lighting designer and entrepreneur Angelo Gaetano Sciolari (1927-1994) became widely popular in the United States during the postwar years and strongly influenced lighting makers around the world. The sculptural forms and striking geometric details of his vintage floor lamps, chandeliers and other fixtures fit seamlessly into the mid-century modern and Hollywood Regency interiors of the day.
About Lightolier:
Lightolier was founded in 1904 by Bernhard Blitzer. Its original name was the New York Gas and Appliance Co., but it was changed to Lightolier, a combination of "light" and "chandelier," when electric lighting became more widely accepted. Early on, the company specialized in elaborate decorative chandeliers before shifting to high-end design and architecture in the 1920s. Lightolier introduced the first track lighting system in the 1960s, an innovation designed by Anthony C. Donato. The Lytegem series designed by Michael Lax is another notable creation, and is housed in The Museum of Modern Art. They were the first lighting company to introduce digital lighting systems in the 1990s. Lightolier was acquired by Philips Royal Electronics in 2007. Lightolier chandeliers lighting & lamps continue to be sought by designers and collectors today.
About our item:
Found in a collective artist’s workshop / rehearsal facility, it was used there essentially for decoration, not for lighting, which explains the dim multicolored Christmas style light bulbs it came with.
One could totally turn it into a room’s main light source by using regular candelabra-base spherical or flame-shaped light bulbs (probably not more than 25 W each), as exemplified in the two first pictures of this listing (these were not taken by me, but by someone with better photographic skills, clearly :-D, and they are not showing the item I’m selling, but other specimens of the exact same design).
What’s striking about this chandelier is the large number of lights it offers (12) as well as its smart design, featuring a total of 12 loops or rings alternating with 12 light shafts, all with shiny chrome finish, making for a very dynamic and exciting visual result.
Surviving examples of that design are not that many, I found only 3 of these available (one priced $1,500, on firstdibs…).
Note that the inner chrome shell of two loops are missing: I don’t know if it’s by design or a defect, as everything seems perfectly in order, and it actually took me some time to notice it.
The chandelier comes with a very long chain (not sure it’s useful to include it with the chandelier, as it’s likely to add unnecessary weight to the package, if the chandelier has to ship to you) as well as with a thingy which I think is an old school light dimmer (see picture). I couldn’t make sense of it when I powered the chandelier, so I just cut it off (but it would probably be easy to connect it back, let me know if you want it).
The top of the chandelier features a strong ring and a big screw to connect it to the hardware that will allow you to hang it from the ceiling (that hardware is not included).
Whatever electrical operations you perform with this chandelier, I naturally strongly recommend that you do it at least under the supervision of a professional electrician.
The multicolored light bulbs are included, if you so desire.
Excellent vintage condition.
Dimensions:
diameter 25” ½
height: 22”
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