Monday, June 11, 2007

History Of Chandeliers

Chandeliers are usually seen in ritzy homes. But given this statement, it doesn’t mean that you can’t put one in your house, if ever you do not live in a mansion.


You can install chandeliers and add elegance in your homes. That way you do not have to pay for such big prices for the lot, when you can just pay a smaller amount for the chandelier and its installation. But have you ever wondered about the history of these lighting fixtures?

chandeliers are fixtures that usually have two or more arms that carry lights. They are mounted on your ceilings. There are different kinds of chandeliers, but all of them give that very same effect for elegance. Modern ones are very flamboyant, with lots and lots of lamps and complicated displays of murals, to give more illumination to the room with its many convoluted patterns.

chandeliers are believed to be bear more weight compared to other ceiling light furniture. Some intricate ones may need special connections to your ceiling and specially reinforced ceilings as well. Luckily, not all chandeliers would require you to sweat it out trying to make the necessary connections. Most of the chandeliers do not need special supports and they can be attached to your electric fuse like your other appliances.

What is initially frustrating with these kinds of chandeliers is that they might not need special attachments, but they would require specially reinforced fuses. This reinforcement may be done during the installation and ensuing installations may need extensive renovations.

Now that you know what a chandelier is and how it is connected to electricity, it is time you found out about its history.

The first chandeliers were utilized back in the medieval ages as decorations in churches and abbeys to give more illumination to vast halls. Their first look was a simple wooden cross that has some spikes on which the candles will be laid. This whole construction will be lifted up to a particular height hanging on a rope that is also suspended from a hook.

After the fifteenth century, more ornate versions of chandeliers showed up. The most popular designs back then were those of crown designs and were commonly found in palaces and residences of the extremely rich. It was used as a status symbol.

When the world reached the eighteenth century, brass versions came into being, with long, curved branches and carries many candles, and were also most usually found in houses of merchants.

It was also in the same century that glassmaking skills were developed, and this said enhancement led to the cheaper production of lead crystal. Crystal has highly refractive glass and it scatters light in proportions other forms of glass are incapable of doing. Crystal was added to the chandeliers’ conglomeration, and the famous crystal chandelier started to exist.

Until the end of the twentieth century these lighting fixtures were referred to as an item for decoration in a specific room, and not anymore as a major source of illumination.

Everything came from something. Everything you touch, hold and see has its own history. Presently, chandeliers are common in homes east and west. If you consider yourself under the category of those living in those kinds of homes, then it would be nice to know that, at least, you know the history of one of your furniture, the history of the chandelier.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor