Girandole

A girandole (/ˈdʒɪrəndəʊl/) is an ornamental branched candle holder consisting of several lights that may be on a stand or mounted on the wall, either by itself or attached to a mirror. Girandole has been used to refer to a number of different objects and designs; the early girandoles were candelabras decorated with crystals looking like a chandelier on a stand, and at one time it was also used to describe all candelabras and chandeliers, with or without crystals. Girandole first appeared in France in the mid-17th century as a luxurious object for lighting. In the 18-century, a girandole may be attached to a mirror, and large wall-mounted girandoles with a mirror incorporated became fashionable in England in the second half of the 18th century. A form of girandole backed with a round convex mirror was also popular in the United States in the early 19th century.

A girandole with convex mirror

Etymology

A pair of late-17th century French girandoles

The word girandole first appeared in English in the first half of the 17th century in reference to a rotating firework. It comes from the French girandole, which is in turn derived from the Italian girandola, meaning a kind of horizontal Catherine wheel firework. Girandola is a diminutive of giranda, deriving from girare and Latin gyrāre, meaning "to gyrate", which in turn comes from gyrus and ultimately from Greek gŷros meaning "ring or circle".

Girandole as a decorative lighting object may have been named after the Catherine wheel-like firework because the early form of girandole was a branched candlestick with arms that radiate out from a central axis like the spokes of a wheel, thereby resembling the firework.

Usage

An ornate American candelabra hung with crystals described as a girandole

Girandole has been used as a term for a variety of lighting devices and objects. Originally a term for a type of firework, it was used in the second half of the 17th century in France to mean a type of candelabra, usually with 6 arms emerging from a central stem. The girandoles of this period were ornate candelabras pyramidal in shape often hung with pendants of crystals. This, along with the firework, is still one of the definitions of girandole in France today. Ornate candelabra with hanging crystals were also described as girandoles in the United States in the mid-19th century. These usually come in sets of three, with a 3 or 5-arm candelabra flanked by two similarly decorated single-armed candlesticks.

In the mid-18th century in England, it referred to a large gilded decorative sconce, or a wall light backed with a mirror. Later the mirror, especially if it is circular and convex, may be called girandole by itself without the candle holders. The wall-mounted lighting device is a common definition of girandole in English today. Some large dressing glasses of the 19th century were known as "girandoles" because of the lighting devices mounted to their sides. A form of girandole with a chandelier in front of a mirror was created in Ireland in the late 18th century.

In Italy, girandola refers to the firework, a weather vane, or a pinwheel toy. In Poland, the word girandole (żyrandol) is used to describe a traditional folk art. A popular form is "spider girandoles", which are decorative objects hung from the ceiling. These may be made from tissue paper cut, wrapped or manipulated into flowers or garland, and as festoons stretched starwise at the ceiling.

Girandole is used in jewellery design to mean an earring with a large central stone or piece with smaller stones attached. A popular form of girandole earrings consists of 3 pendant drops hanging from a larger cluster in the shape of a bow or other designs, like the branches of a candelabra. Girandole has also been used to describe a clock in the United States where the timepiece sits on top of a trunk and a round base in the shape of a girandole mirror.

Designs

Late-17th century French girandole decorated with crystals and semi-precious stones

Girandoles as decorative candelabras appeared as items in French royal households around 1660, and an early version may have existed in 1653. Many girandoles were found in the Palace of Versailles. It was also used in the private residences of the wealthy by the late 17th century. It stayed popular in France in the 18th-century, when some exceptional examples of girandole were created by famous ciseleurs of the period. These girandoles were usually made and used in pairs, and together with sconces they lit the middle section of the room below the chandeliers.

The early French girandoles have a base, a central stem and a plate that usually holds six arms with drip pans and bobèche for the candles. They were often decorated with rock crystals and glass – these may be strung together as beads, or hung as pendants or rosettes in a pyramidal or cone-shape arrangement, adding sparkles to the candleholder by reflecting the candlelight. More extravagant girandoles may include semi-precious stones such as amethyst, agate, chalcedony as well as coral, carnelian and jade. Girandoles can also be designed as sculptural figures, which may be made of gilt bronze with or without crystals. Also popular in the 18th century were porcelain girandoles with floral decorations. Some girandoles were made of silver, but gold was limited to the royal palaces. The girandoles may be small, but they can also become quite large, with some around eight feet tall including a large sculptural base recorded. The smaller girandoles could be placed on a table or guéridon, while larger one were often placed on a torchère. The popularity of girandoles declined in the 19th century in France, and those that were made there were mainly copies of older designs.

English designs for girandoles

4 girandoles with mirrors by Thomas Chippendale

A late 18-century girandole

Girandoles may also be designed as wall lights or sconces, and many of these were in the ornate Rococo-style. Mirrors with elaborate frames and candleholders attached were produced in England in the mid-18th century, and these were also referred to as girandoles. Thomas Chippendale produced girandoles, with and without mirrors, of asymmetric designs in rococo, chinoiserie or Gothic styles. These consist of scrolls and shells incorporating various motifs such as architectural ruins, Chinese figures and pagodas, columns, foliage, waterfalls, and birds. The mirrors were usually fitted in smaller plates, and the joints then covered with gilt mouldings or pilasters. In the late-18th century, designs in the Neo-Classical style were popular. Arms of candleholders may emerge from the sides of the mirror, or directly below it, but a girandole can also be positioned in front of the mirror such that it and its reflected image create the illusion of a full candelabra.

Towards the end of 18th century, circular convex mirrors were created for use in homes. The mirrors, referred to as "girandoles" or "girandole mirrors", have projecting curved arms for holding candles and were designed to created a pleasantly distorted reflections of the rooms they were in. These became popular in the Federal period (1790 to 1830) in the United States, where the mirrors were often topped with an eagle finial. Some may be topped with wing horses or dragons and the mirrors may range in size from one to three feet in diameter. In England, such mirrors also called girandole were often produced without the candle holders.

A great variety of metals have been used for the creation of girandoles. In the case of candlesticks, gilded bronze has been a very frequent medium, but for table use silver may be used. Some girandoles are also made of hardwoods. The large wall-mounted girandole may be made of gilded carved wood.

Gallery

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  Louis XIV-era French girandole
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  18th century French girandole
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  French design for a pair of girandoles
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  Girandole, Louis XVI period
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  18th-century French drawing of a girandole
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  18th century English designs for girandoles and table
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  Design for a girandole
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  A design by William Chambers
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  Design for a girandole by Thomas Johnson
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  A girandole design by Thomas Chippendale
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  A Czech girandole
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  Dutch girandole (1856, Rijksmuseum)
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  Meissen porcelain and gilt-bronze girandole
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  A Russian girandole
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  Girandole earrings
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  Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, wearing a pair of girandole earrings, 1937
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  A girandole clock

References

Bibliography

• Wilson, Gillian; Bremer-David, Charissa; Weaver, Jeffrey (2008). French Furniture and Gilt Bronzes. J. Paul Getty Museum. pp. 292–295. ISBN 9780892368747.
• Campbell, Gordon (2006). The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts. Oxford University Press.
• Havard, Henry (1888). Dictionnaire de l'ameublement et de la décoration. Vol. 2. Maison Quantin, compagnie générale d'impression et d'édition. p. 980–984.
• Warren Clouston, K. (1897). The Chippendale Period in English Furniture. Debenham & Freebody.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Girandole". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 5.