Large Belle Époque ormolu and cut glass 27-light chandelier

This magnificent 27-light chandelier, crafted from ormolu, patinated bronze, and moulded and cut glass, is a superb example of the decadence of Belle Époque period design and craftsmanship.

The chandelier features a central baluster-shaped column crafted from brown patinated bronze and adorned with a wide variety of applied ormolu mounts, with anthemia, acanthus leaves, and other foliate motifs predominating. The central column, which terminates below in a cut glass pomegranate drop finial and culminates above in a corona of cut-glass pendants, supports three tiers of lights, with the lowest tier containing twelve branches, the middle tier containing nine branches, and the upper tier six branches. Each S-scroll branch is moulded with twisted fluting and mounted to the centre of the ‘S’ with a scrolling ormolu acanthus leaf. Each branch terminates in an ormolu foliate drip tray draped with glass pendants, above which is an engraved glass hurricane shade finished with an ormolu moulded rim.

The glass hurricane shades are initialled ‘S.R’.