From single-bulb pendants to cast-metal confections adorned with hand-painted glass, lighting in the early years of electricity was all about invention. Beaux Arts lighting was on the high side of the style equation.

Thanks to Edison and the electric light bulb, these new fixtures could direct light up or down or sideways. Easy-to-cast alloys led to incredibly ornate fixtures with intricate detail. Shades also evolved in shape, color, and translucency—and not only in glass.

Fabric, Glass, Metal, and More

From silk to sheepskin, fabric was employed to screen fixtures with upright bulbs, from “candlestick” sconces with faux wax drips to cast chandeliers with multiple arms. Tiffany-style art glass fixtures gave way to art-glass bowl and pendant fixtures and more affordable polychromed fixtures made from inexpensive pot metals.

Brightened with thin paint coatings, relief was picked out in a lighter color such as gold against coppery bronze. Hand-painted shades in opaque or opalescent glass brought pops of color to fixtures, incidentally adding color to the light cast.

Fun Features

As with other fixtures of the times, favorite Beaux Arts forms included pan lights, shower (mutli-pendant) fixtures, and hanging (inverted) bowls. The pan light is a decorative plate mounted or suspended by chains from the ceiling, with bulbs facing up or down. Truly extravagant examples were suspended on chains that reached a ring encrusted with ornamentation, with bulbs dangling below.

Shower fixtures, where multiple shaded pendants are suspended by chains from a ceiling plate, were especially popular and showy. They were versatile, too: with the standardization of the bulb fitter, a shower fixture could be fitted with simple opalescent shades, fluted or bell-shape opaque shades, painted shades, or lustrous art glass.

Hanging bowls suspended from chains are among the most graceful fixtures of the era. Made of translucent glass or, more rarely, alabaster, fixtures reflected light off the ceiling and also cast it softly downward. Hybrid bowl-and-shower fixtures have the bowl encircled by suspended bulbs with shades, or by upright electric candles.

Many period styles are available in reproduction but it’s rare to find a Beaux Arts reproduction. For high-style chandeliers and sconces with relief work, polychrome fixtures, and hand-painted glass, turn to the vintage market: Shop antique-lighting specialists, local and regional salvage dealers, flea markets, and online sources like Etsy or 1stDibs to discover an unexpected treasure.

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