Chandelier (Front, with candles)

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