NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Gaslighting in America
A Guide for Historic Preservation
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PLATES
Chandeliers installed in the East Room of the White House, 1873. |
Plate 70 |
In 1873, President Grant had the up-to-date fixtures
seen in this photograph replace the three East Room glass chandeliers
that had been bought for the White House by President Jackson in 1834
and fitted for gas in 1848 (see plate 13). This J. F. Jarvis stereograph
was taken after the room was redecorated for President Arthur in
1882-1883 by Associated Artists. These immense chandeliers, hung with
dozens of notched spear prisms and lighted by a multitude of shaded
burners and internal reflectors as well, were as splendid as any in
America of their day. Such chandeliers represented the ultimate in
grandeur and luxury to most men and women of the gilded age. A
contemporary publication, describing a Fall River (Massachusetts) Line
steamboat, spoke of "costly chandeliers in the sunbeams darting forth
the bright rays of the prism, or by gaslight sparkling with all the
brilliancy of a tiara of diamonds." [117]
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From the author's
collection. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Detail of a glass chandelier showing ball and socket joint at ceiling,
ca. 1865. |
Plate 7l |
Although glass, or "crystal" chandeliers were by no
means unknown, particularly in the Boston area before the Civil War, the
real vogue for them came in the last third of the 19th century. During
the 1850s and 1860s frosted and cut glass bowls and stem balusters and
frosted bobeches were often used in combination with clear notched spear
prisms. Frosting the glass was a means of minimizing the effect of the
silvered pipes to which the clear glass branches were attached. The
glass branches were fragile and could not withstand very much torque. It
was therefore necessary to hang glass chandeliers so that they were not
rigid. "Larger and heavier fixtures are hung with universal
ball-and-socket joints." [118]
The chandelier of which a detail is shown here
formerly hung in the J. H. Bancroft House in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and probably dated from around 1865. It dates from before 1873 and is
almost certainly of Massachusetts origin. It is 33 inches wide and just
short of 70 inches tall. The prisms, or "icicles" are 5-1/2 inches long.
Note particularly the ball-and-socket joint where the pipe meets the
ceiling. The elaborate center flower was not molded plaster but simply
illusionistically painted in grisaille on a perfectly flat surface.
A similar but slightly larger chandelier fitted with
gas candles is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and is attributed to
Gillinder and Sons of Philadelphia. [119] It is
quite unlikely that the Cambridge chandelier came from Philadelphia;
however, it is very likely that it was made by an East Cambridge firm.
The Cambridge fixture and the supposedly Philadelphia fixture are so
similar, it seems probable that the Metropolitan Museum's example should
be attributed to a Massachusetts firm.
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From the author's
collection. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Mt. Washington Glassworks Display in the Centennial Exhibition,
Philadelphia, 1876. |
Plate 72 |
The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia
exhibited a wide variety of products. Lighting fixtures were certainly
not least among the categories shown. Among the many groups of
manufactures exhibiting American prowess were the wares of the Mount
Washington Glass Works of New Bedford, Massachusetts, seen here. The
dazzling display of crystal chandeliers and glasswares included epergnes
and other tablewares, vases, and at least three painted glass
chandeliers, one at the extreme left and two, one behind another, left
of center. Note also the various sizes of shades stacked within the
counter at bottom center of the photograph. This group of fixtures
includes most of the styles current in glass chandeliers during the
1870s. [120]
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Courtesy of the Smithsonian
Institution. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Brass and ormolu chandelier by Mitchell, Vance and Company, 1870. |
Plate 73 |
This handsome brass and ormolu 12-light chandelier
hung in the sitting room of the now-demolished Jedediah Wilcox House
completed in 1870 in Meridan, Connecticut. The chandelier (5 feet 8
inches tall) was never electrified. The lower six burners have slotted
shafts with slotted sliding brass sleeves to permit varying amounts of
air to be mixed with the gas, to adjust the pressure. The classical
profile heads in high relief just above the gas keys, the vase and urn
motifs of the stem, and the stylized palmettes are all hallmarks of the
Neo-Grec style of the late 1860s and the 1870s. The etched and cut glass
shades are original. [121]
The Wilcox House chandeliers were made by the New
York firm of Mitchell, Vance and Company. Originally, the firm was
Mitchell, Bailey and Company, incorporated in 1854 in Connecticut by
John S. Mitchell, John Bailey, Anson H. Colt, and Samuel B. H. Vance. In
1860 the new copartnership of Mitchell, Vance and Company was organized
by Mitchell, Vance, and Aaron and Charles Benedict. In 1873, the
Connecticut copartnership was dissolved, and Mitchell, Vance and Company
was reincorporated in New York. When John S. Mitchell died on February
1, 1875, the firm was managed under the same name by Charles Benedict,
President. As early as 1856 the firm had a fashionable Broadway address.
In 1877, they built offices at 836-838 Broadway, where they were still
listed in 1902. [122]
A Mitchell and Vance advertisement in 1881 read:
"Mitchell, Vance and Company Manufacturers of Gas Fixtures, Fine Clocks,
and Bronzes. Highest Award and Medals at the Centennial Exhibition.
Crystal, gilt, bronze, and decorated [i.e., polychromed] gas fixtures in
the greatest variety at low prices. Special designs for churches, halls,
hotels, dwellings, etc." [123]
Note that the firm received the highest award at the
Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia. Cornelius's output
may have been the largest in volume, but by 1876 Mitchell, Vance and
Company led in prestige. The judges' report for the 40th Exhibition of
the American Institute said: "The Glass Chandeliers are equal, if not
superior to the celebrated Osler manufacture [English], which have
been, the best in the world. The Glass is of unusual whiteness. They
Rank A1." [124]
The firm supplied the fixtures for such prestigious
buildings as: St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Thomas's Church, Collegiate
Church of St. Nicholas, and Temple Emanuel, all on New York's Fifth
Avenue, and H. H. Richardson's Brattle Square Church in Boston, Boston
City Hall, and the new Illinois State Capitol. There are 69 structures
listed in Mitchell, Vance and Company's Centennial Catalogue
including such hotels as the Windsor and the Grand Central in New York,
the Palmer House in Chicago, Galt House in Louisville, and the Grand
Union and United States Hotels in Saratoga Springs. Theaters included
the Booth Theatre and the Grand Opera House in New York City. College
buildings listed were Harvard's new Memorial Hall and "Smith's Female
College" in Northampton, Massachusetts. Commercial Structures included
two of the most important buildings of the time, the Western Union
Telegraph Building and the Tribune Building, New York proto-skyscrapers.
[125]
The text of the Centennial Catalogue indicates
contemporary practice. "For the Reception Room, Chandeliers in Gold,
relieved with a little coloras jet, crimson, or blue are deemed
desirable." A matching 12-light chandelier was suggested for the drawing
room, and chandeliers with center slides for "other rooms," presumably
the dining room and library. Among these was a seven-light
(six-branched) "slide Library Chandelier in the Neo-Grec style." The
center slide had an Argand burner and could be lowered "very near the
reading table." That fixture was ornamented with medallions representing
music, poetry, and history, but the substitution of medallions
representing game, birds, and fish could render it suitable for the
dining room. It was available in bronze, gilt, or verde antique finish.
The "Standards" shown were pillar lights with several burners and
included a crystal and an ecclesiastical design. One newel standard was
supported by a bronze American Indian. The grandest crystal fixture
illustrated was a 30-light chandelier. The most detailed description was
reserved for the lavish Neo-Grec eight-light chandelier made for the
main entrance of the Western Union Telegraph Building. This fixture had
a laurel-garland Greek vase, four fluted colonnettes with foliated
capitals, and burners in the form of classical lamps. It also had an
extraordinary assortment of fauna female nudes in low relief,
lion heads, griffins, and animals that appeared to be the progeny of
sphinxes mated with unicorns. It was designed by Charles C. Perring,
whose skill probably contributed much to the outstanding success of the
firm. [126]
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Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, American Wing Restricted Building Fund, 1968. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Cornelius and Sons display in the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia,
1876. |
Plate 74 |
The Cornelius and Sons' kiosk in the main building at
the Centennial Exhibition shows that at least one large glass chandelier
was in their repertoire, although their 22-page catalogue of about the
same date shows none. Certainly crystal fixtures were not their usual
product. Most of their metal fixtures of the 1870s were decidedly
angular in design and were derived more from a misinterpretation of
Eastlake principles than from a sophisticated understanding of the
Neo-Grec style. Many of Cornelius and Sons' designs in their undated
catalogue, probably issued in 1876, appear awkward and naive in
comparison with those of Mitchell, Vance and Company, although that is
by no means invariably the case. Note that the table in the foreground
bears several lamps whose burners are supported by bronze figures. Two
of those in the catalogue represent seasons and are labeled "Ete" and
"Hiver," which suggests the prestige of "French bronze," even when made
in America.
The history of the Cornelius firm down to 1870 has
already been traced. [127] After the split with
the Bakers in 1869, Cornelius and Sons in 1870 was composed of Robert
Cornelius and his sons Robert Comeley, John C., and Charles Blakiston,
Samuel Loder and Albert G. Hetherington. Another name change occurred in
1886, when Cornelius and Hetherington, John C. Cornelius and Albert G.
Hetherington, were the partners. An 1887 advertisement read as follows:
"Cornelius and Hetherington Artistic gas and electric fixtures,
wrought iron and brass grills, memorial brass, real bronze, railings and
castings. 1332 Chestnut Street." [128] From
1888 until the firm dissolved in 1900 it operated as Cornelius and
Rowland with John C. Cornelius and George L. Rowland as partners.
The Baker group formed Baker, Arnold and Company by
1871 or the year before. In 1875 the partners were listed as William C.
Baker, Crawford Arnold, and Robert C. Baker at the old Cornelius and
Baker address, 710 Chestnut Street. Crawford Arnold first appeared in
1859 at the same address and apparently was a member of the firm of
Cornelius and Baker but not a partner. Baker, Arnold and Company was
last listed in 1878. [129]
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Courtesy of the Free Library of
Philadelphia. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Plate from Cornelius and Sons catalogue, probably 1876. |
Plate 75 |
The undated Cornelius and Sons catalogue previously
mentioned is in The Historical Society of Pennsylvania collection in
Philadelphia and is the only copy known to exist. It is composed of 22
lithographed plates showing a variety of fixtures, most of which are
depicted in a brown color representing bronze, although a few are shown
as gilded. The angularity of the three fixtures on this plate is typical
of many that were made around the centennial year of 1876. The
chandelier at the left has elements of Neo-Grec style, but the
chandelier at the right, an eclectic blend, is more Eastlake than
otherwise in design. These bronze finished chandeliers, nos. 6492 and
6410, had gilded counterparts, nos. 6493 and 6411. Twelve-light
chandeliers were never very common. They were used only in large and
grand houses and in public buildings.
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Courtesy of The Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Cornelius and Sons chandelier illustrated in the previous plate. |
Plate 76 |
This is one of three gilded chandeliers catalogued.
as no. 6411, the gilt version of no. 6410 at the right of the preceding
Cornelius and Sons plate. The three measure 53 inches high and have a
spread of 31-1/2 inches. Two hang in the drawing room and one in the
en suite dining room of an Alexandria, Virginia, residence built
between 1850 and 1855. Alexandria already had city gas in 1851, so these
fixtures of the mid-1870s must be presumed to have replaced earlier
chandeliers. As damage to earlier chandeliers was unlikely, they were
probably removed by a previous owner. Frequently fine fixtures were
considered to be furnishings rather than fittings and were retained by
the seller when a house changed hands.
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Courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Bernard
Fensterwald, Alexandria, Virginia, photograph by Jack E.
Boucher. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Detail of Cornelius and Sons chandelier in the previous plate. |
Plate 77 |
This detail of the chandelier in the Eastlake manner
by Cornelius and Sons shown on the preceding plate clearly demonstrates
that, although the designs may have fallen short of the firm's previous
standards, the quality of workmanship was fully maintained. The
execution of complicated castings was every bit as well carried out by
Cornelius and Sons as by any of their rivals.
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Courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Bernard
Fensterwald, Alexandria, Virginia, photograph by Jack E.
Boucher. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Chandeliers from Cornelius and Sons catalogue, probably 1876. |
Plate 78 |
The notation "plate 318" in the upper right corner of
this plate suggests that there was a group of illustrations in print
much larger than the 22 lithographed plates that comprise the extant
Cornelius and Sons catalogue (see plate 75 of this report). The 821
Cherry Street address refers to the company's factory, not to the retail
outlet, which was at 1332 Chestnut Street from 1870 until the late
1890s. The stem of the chandelier in the middle and the griffins perched
on the branches of the chandelier at the left show Neo-Grec influence,
but the fixture at the right almost defies stylistic analysis. Note that
the branches of the chandelier at the left are identical with those of
the 12-light chandelier just discussed (except for the griffins, see
plate 77). These three fixtures could be had with from two or three to
six lights. They range from 21 to 23 inches in spread and from 34 to 48
inches in height. Each shade was secured by a single set-screw. Two
short claws (not visible in this lithograph) on the supporting ring
engaged the lower lip of the shade and held it firmly.
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Courtesy of The Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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Cornelius and Sons bracket with griffin, ca. 1876. |
Plate 79 |
The cast griffin ornamenting this Neo-Grec gilded
bracket is identical to those shown on the chandelier at the left of the
preceding plate. The bracket can therefore be attributed with certainty
to Cornelius and Sons. The inappropriately plain spun brass wall plate
is a modern replacement for an undoubtedly more ornate lost original.
Wall plates were invariably used with brackets to mask the break in the
plaster where the gas pipe emerged from the wall. They were often
shallow in profile because there was no need, as in modern
installations, to accommodate wires and wire nuts. The shadeholder of
this bracket is a modern restoration. But the design is reasonably
suitable for shades of post-1880 vintage, although three set-screws
instead of one, as in original shade holders, are used. The shade dates
from the 1880s and is etched with Neo-Grec patterns. Probably the
original shade was still of the small-necked variety.
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From the author's collection,
photograph by Jack E. Boucher. (click on image
for a PDF version)
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myers/plate8.htm
Last Updated: 30-Nov-2007
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