Featured Crystal ceiling fixture

Discussion in 'Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain' started by bluumz, Apr 30, 2020.

  1. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    Scored this gorgeous crystal ceiling fixture locally. It’s going to look great in my bedroom! The crystal bowl is very heavy, 10 pounds or so. Metal portions appear to be heavy cast brass (or bronze?) I’ve been over it and over it and find no mark. It looks similar to many Waterford fixtures. Anyone recognize the pattern? The seller said it came with the house and they are not original owners. Their gorgeous large home is in a very affluent area and was built in the 60s.

    28E8CA1F-1FFE-4AD8-A2AF-35C2FC4B73ED.jpeg 1AE68BB0-78B4-4089-89AC-D8AD68401C07.jpeg 99F3BEC8-3597-4A0E-B2F8-22721A3B1344.jpeg 2E2F9A66-8861-4A6A-9C7F-E8EA56852C7E.jpeg 4131D2A0-071E-48AF-9EE9-E4A97E0CB02F.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2020
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  2. sabre123

    sabre123 Well-Known Member

    Sorry, can't determine who made it, but that is a pretty fixture and it's going to cast some dazzling light. Some of the pattern look like stylized pineapples. Could be my over-active imagination.

    Make sure it's hung securely, or you may get hit in the coconut by a 10 lb crystal pineapple!
     
  3. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    I didn't notice the pattern's resemblance to pineapples until you mentioned it but that makes sense. This was quite likely an entryway fixture and pineapples are a symbol of welcome and hospitality, as well as symbolizing luxury and wealth (things I aspire to). :rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2020
  4. clutteredcloset49

    clutteredcloset49 Well-Known Member

    At first I was waffling between 1920 and 1960s.

    Think I have settled on the latter. Based on the glass.
    My guess West German glass, don't know about the fixture

    Notice it is lead crystal.
    The large "cuts" (1) look pressed

    upload_2020-4-30_14-41-48.png
     
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  5. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    Thanks, cluttered!
    Yes, the larger bits do feel pressed, they have smooth edges. The smaller bits and cross-hatching are definitely cut, they have sharp edges.
    I think the cloth-insulated electrical wiring is consistent with 1960s, too. (I'm definitely going to need to re-wire it!)
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2020
  6. George Nesmith

    George Nesmith Well-Known Member

    If it is a figured blank there should be a slight rise on the inside over the major mitres. Use your fingers to look. I am thinking all molded.
     
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  7. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    Sorry, I don't understand your instruction?
    Bowl has no seam lines.
     
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  8. George Nesmith

    George Nesmith Well-Known Member

    Seams can be polished out. I was giving you a way to tell if it is all cut, partially cut with the largest cuts in a mold or all molded. At the end of the ABCG figured blanks ie with the major cuts in the mold and the small cuts made by a cutter with grinding wheels.
     
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  9. lizjewel

    lizjewel Well-Known Member

    I rewired an early 1900s Edwardian 5-arm chandelier in the 1980s. The old wiring I removed was clothcovered as was most wiring before polyvinyl/plastic came into general use. I wouldn't put a dating on this crystal ceiling fixture based solely on clothcovered wires, it could be older than the 1960s.

    The style and pattern are basically Czechoslovakian (called Bohemian if before 1920 I believe) and were popular from the 1920s-1930s also, widely marketed in the West.

    From my experience with crystal chandeliers and fixtures they were usually first molded and next finished by hand, polishing/sharpening the edges to appear handcut. [Other crystal, glasses, goblets, pitchers, bowls, were too.]

    To handcut entirely a fairly basic crystal ceiling bowl such as this one would have been prohibitely expensive as they were intended for the middle-class home market, not palaces.

    And, yes, the pineapple motif has been popular in home decor since Victorian times, and as @bluumz pointed out was meant to convey welcome, hospitality.
     
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  10. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    Thank you George and liz, that’s some great information!

    I still don’t understand “there should be a slight rise on the inside over the major mitres”? In this case, I don’t understand what mitres are.
    The inside of the bowl is completely smooth, not even the smallest bumps over any areas.
     
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  11. George Nesmith

    George Nesmith Well-Known Member

    The major mitres are the long deeper"cuts" that frame the smaller cuts that make the design. If they are off the whole pattern will be off. JoAnne Evers has an excellent book about this.
     
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  12. Lark

    Lark Well-Known Member

    i believe its the pineapple pattern. pineapples were sign of hospitality.
     
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  13. clutteredcloset49

    clutteredcloset49 Well-Known Member

    I was trying to find an example of the W. Germ cut/press glass. Did not have any luck. However if you search ebay for Hollywood Regency compote, a lot of similar shapes and cuts come up. I could not fine a lamp using those words.

    This one has more similar cuts
    upload_2020-5-1_22-55-16.png
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/HOLLYWOOD-...Marble-Base-/223505253807?hash=item3409f385af

    This one has the same top treatment as yours.
    upload_2020-5-1_22-54-4.png
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mid-Centur...a=1&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109


    The reason I said West German glass.
    A few years back a local gift store went out of business. She had tons of stuff from the 1970s in the stockroom. One of the things I bought was a cherub lamp with a crystal cut/pressed shade. It still had the paper label on the glass. West Germany.
     
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