Loading

Chandelier (Front, with candles)

Gérard Jean Galle

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

A hot-air balloon inspired the design of this fanciful chandelier with its blue globe strewn with stars above a glass bowl. The twelve signs of the zodiac wrap around the globe on a gilt-bronze band. The maker, Gérard Jean Galle, fitted the bowl with a plug and explained that it could hold water and small goldfish, “whose continuous movement will give agreeable recreation to the eye.” When he exhibited a chandelier of this design in 1819, Galle described it as a lustre à poisson (fish chandelier).

Explore Galle's Chandelier on Google Arts & Culture

Show lessRead more
  • Title: Chandelier (Front, with candles)
  • Creator: Gérard Jean Galle
  • Date Created: about 1818–1819
  • Location Created: Paris, France
  • Physical Dimensions: 119.5 × 99 cm (47 1/16 × 39 in.)
  • Type: Chandelier
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Gilt bronze; glass; painted copper; gilt tin; iron armature
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 73.DH.76
  • Culture: French
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Creator Display Name: Gérard Jean Galle (French, 1788 - 1846)
  • Classification: Decorative Art (Art Genre)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

Additional Items

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Interested in Nature?

Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly

You are all set!

Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites