Though technology and design change, objects that house and direct light have been around for thousands of years. Designed to Be Lit, on view in Carnegie Museum of Art’s Treasure Room, through February 10, 2008, displays candlesticks, candelabra, and oil and electric lamps from the museum’s collection and examines both the functional and decorative aspects of lighting devices.
“Light has captured the imagination and provided endless opportunities for innovative design,” says Rachel Delphia, Carnegie Museum of Art assistant curator of decorative arts and organizer of the exhibition. “The lighting devices on view here have been selected from the best of the museum’s collection.”
Successful lighting designs depend on the mastery of elements such as color, reflection, and transparency to effectively capture the desired benefits of illumination. Many candleholders, for example, have multifaceted surfaces to reflect and amplify the light of each open flame. Electric lamps, on the other hand, often use shades and baffles to soften the light.
Included in the exhibition is a grouping of candlesticks made in the 17th and 18th centuries from brass and Paktong (a mixture of copper with nickel and tin or zinc that was developed in China).
A silvered bronze candelabrum by Christofle, c. 1874, with bamboo-like stem and leaves, demonstrates the 19th-century fascination with the arts of Japan, as well as the skill of this influential and innovative French firm that specialized in decorative metalwork.
The dragonflies on a Tiffany table lamp, c. 1899–1902, are also a Japanese motif. The lamp with its multicolored stained-glass shade produced a soft glow and was designed to beautify the home rather than produce useful light. Conversely, Jacques Le Chevallier’s reflective aluminum desk lamp was intended to overtly celebrate electricity and a Machine Age aesthetic. -- www.aerospacemuseum.org
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