Girandole

File:Pair of Girandoles - Getty collection 99.DF.46.jpg

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 {{linktext|lang=fr|girandole}}, which is in turn derived from the Italian {{linktext|lang=it|girandola}}, meaning a kind of horizontal Catherine wheel-like 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".{{cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/girandole-2021-07-03/ |title=Word of the Day: Girandole |work=Dictionary.com |date=July 3, 2021 }}

Girandole as a decorative lighting object may have been named after the horizontal Catherine wheel-like firework – 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.{{sfn|Wilson|Bremer-David|Weaver|2008 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_-SiF_cN9XQC&pg=PA292 292] }}{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/girandole |title=Girandole |work=Merriam-Webster }}

File:Bigelow Chapel girandole set, by William Shaw, Boston, Massachusetts, designed 1848, brass, gilding, marble, cut glass - Dallas Museum of Art - DSC04794.jpg

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.{{sfn|Wilson|Bremer-David|Weaver|2008 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_-SiF_cN9XQC&pg=PA292 292] }} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/girandole |title=Girandole |work=CNRTL }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.hkarlscharoldantiques.com/docs/Girandoles_Guide_HKarlScharold.pdf |title=Girandoles |author= H. Karl Scharold }}

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 object is a common definition of girandole in English today.{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/girandole |title=Girandole |work=Collins Dictionary }}{{cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/girandole |title=Girandole|work=Dictionary.com }} Some large dressing glasses of the 19th century were known as "girandoles" because of the lighting devices mounted to their sides.{{CN|date=January 2024}} A form of girandole with a chandelier in front of a mirror was created in Ireland in the late 18th century.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gL4d2gitz2oC&pg=PA269 |title=Irish Furniture: Woodwork and Carving in Ireland from the Earliest Times to the Act of Union |author1= Knight of Glin|author2= James Peill |page=269|date= 2007 |publisher=Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art |isbn=9780300117158 }}

In Italy, girandola refers to the firework, a weather vane, or a pinwheel toy.{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/italian-english/girandola |title=Girandola |work=Collins Dictionary }} In Poland, the word girandole ({{lang|pl|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.Frys, Ewa. Iracka, Anna. Pokropek, Marian Folk Art in Poland page #75 Arkady 1988 {{ISBN|83-213-3478-4}}

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.{{sfn|Campbell|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i3Od9bcGus0C&pg=PA523 523], 524 }} 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.{{cite journal |title=New Biographical Findings on Curtis & Dunning, Girandole Clockmakers|first=Lilian|last= Baker Carlisle|journal=The American Art Journal|volume= 10|number =1 |date=May 1978|pages= 90–109 |jstor=1594111 }}{{sfn|Campbell|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i3Od9bcGus0C&pg=RA1-PA255 255]}}

File:Pair of Girandoles - Getty collection 85.DF.382.jpg

Girandoles as decorative candelabras appeared as items in French royal households around 1660, and an early version may have existed in 1653.{{sfn|Wilson|Bremer-David|Weaver|2008 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_-SiF_cN9XQC&pg=PA292 292] }} 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 {{linktext|lang=fr|ciseleur}}s of the period.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}{{sfn|Havard|1888|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2nORC-cUCgC&pg=PA979 980]}} These girandoles were usually made and used in pairs,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}{{sfn|Havard|1888|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2nORC-cUCgC&pg=PA981 981]}} and together with sconces they lit the middle section of the room below the chandeliers.{{cite web |url=https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108FEJ |title=Pair of Girandoles: about 1680–1700 |work=Getty Museum Collection}}

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.{{sfn|Wilson|Bremer-David|Weaver|2008 |pages= 292, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_-SiF_cN9XQC&pg=PA295 295] }} More extravagant girandoles may include semi-precious stones such as amethyst, agate, chalcedony as well as coral, carnelian and jade.{{sfn|Wilson|Bremer-David|Weaver|2008 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_-SiF_cN9XQC&pg=PA292 292] }} Girandoles can also be designed as sculptural figures, which may be made of gilt bronze with or without crystals. In the 18th century, porcelain girandoles with floral decorations were popular. Some girandoles were made of silver, but gold was limited to the royal palaces.{{sfn|Havard|1888|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2nORC-cUCgC&pg=PA982 981]–983}} The girandoles may be small, but they can also become quite large, with some around eight feet tall including a large sculptural base recorded.{{sfn|Havard|1888|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2nORC-cUCgC&pg=PA983 983]}} The smaller girandoles could be placed on a table or guéridon, while larger one were often placed on a torchère.{{sfn|Wilson|Bremer-David|Weaver|2008 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_-SiF_cN9XQC&pg=PA292 292] }} The popularity of girandoles declined in the 19th century in France, and those that were made there were mainly copies of older designs.{{sfn|Havard|1888|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2nORC-cUCgC&pg=PA983 984]}}

{{multiple image

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| header = English designs for girandoles

| image1 = Girandoles, in Chippendale Drawings, Vol. I MET DP104145.jpg

| caption1 = 4 girandoles with mirrors by Thomas Chippendale

| image2=Girandole DP-14762-005-trimmed.jpg|A late-18th century girandole, British

| caption2=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.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3eSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA229 |title=Miller's Antiques Handbook & Price Guide 2020-2021|first= Judith|last= Miller |date=2019|publisher=Octopus |isbn=9781784726485 |page=229 }} 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.{{sfn|Warren Clouston|1897 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=JQgud89mkB8C&pg=PA58 58]–59}} In the late-18th century, designs in the Neo-Classical style were popular.{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/girandole |title=Girandole |work=Encyclopedia Britannica }} 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.{{sfn|Campbell|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i3Od9bcGus0C&pg=RA1-PA324 324]}}

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.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MuEsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=In the Looking Glass: Mirrors and Identity in Early America |first= Rebecca K. |last=Shrum |date=2017|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9781421423128 |pages=24–25 }} These became popular in the Federal period (1790 to 1830) in the United States, where the mirrors were often topped with an eagle finial.{{cite web |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/3977 |title=Girandole |work=The Metropolitan Museum of Art }}{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 |title=Mirror Images |first=Mary Ellen|last=Polson |magazine=Old House Interiors |date=April 2005 |pages=44–48 |volume= 11|number = 3|issn= 1079-3941}} Some may be topped with wing horses or dragons and the mirrors may range in size from one to three feet in diameter.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqreEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA380 |title=Furniture of the Olden Time |first= Frances |last=Clary Morse |date= 2023 }} 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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} The large wall-mounted girandole may be made of gilded carved wood.

File:Girandole, MB370-1.jpg|Louis XIV-era French girandole

File:Pair of Girandoles - Getty collection 75.DF.53.jpg|18th century French girandole

File:Girandole du Palais-Royal.jpg|French design for a pair of girandoles

File:Girandole (style Louis XVI).jpg|Girandole, Louis XVI period

File:Drawing for a Wall Light - Getty collection 86.GA.692.jpg|18th-century French drawing of a girandole

File:Girandoles and Pier Table, Designed by W. Thomas.jpg|18th century English designs for girandoles and table

File:Design for a Girandole with a Circular and Oval Glass MET DP805299.jpg|Design for a girandole

File:Design for a Girandole Composed of Three Clasping Arrows and Candle-branches Terminating in Cockerel Heads MET DP805620.jpg|A design by William Chambers

File:Girandole met man en zwijn Twelve gerandoles (serietitel), RP-P-1977-292.jpg|Design for a girandole by Thomas Johnson

File:Girandole design by Thomas Chippendale.jpg|A girandole design by Thomas Chippendale

File:Girandola NH.jpg|A Czech girandole

File:Girandole geschonken aan de anatoom Willem Vrolik, 1856, RP-P-OB-89.081.jpg|Dutch girandole (1856, Rijksmuseum)

File:Three-light candelabra (candélabre or girandole) (one of a pair) MET DP170902.jpg|Meissen porcelain and gilt-bronze girandole

File:Girandole (Russia, 18-19 с, Ostankino museum) by shakko 01.jpg|A Russian girandole

File:Örhängen med briljanter, 1700-tal - Hallwylska museet - 110487.tif|Girandole earrings

File:Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark in King George VI´s Coronation (cropped).jpg|Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, wearing a pair of girandole earrings, 1937

File:Clock by Joseph Nye Dunning, Burlington VT, 1820-1825, mahogany, pine, brass, glass - Peabody Essex Museum - DSC06865.jpg|A girandole clock

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-SiF_cN9XQC&pg=PA292 |title=French Furniture and Gilt Bronzes |date=2008 |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum |isbn=9780892368747 |first1=Gillian|last1= Wilson|first2= Charissa |last2=Bremer-David|first3= Jeffrey|last3= Weaver |pages=292–295}}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3Od9bcGus0C |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts|first=Gordon|last= Campbell |date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press }}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2nORC-cUCgC&pg=PA979 |title=Dictionnaire de l'ameublement et de la décoration| volume =2| first= Henry |last=Havard |date= 1888 |page=980–984|publisher=Maison Quantin, compagnie générale d'impression et d'édition}}
• {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JQgud89mkB8C&pg=PA59 |title=The Chippendale Period in English Furniture |first= K. |last=Warren Clouston |date= 1897 |publisher=Debenham & Freebody}}
• {{EB1911|wstitle=Girandole|volume=12|page=5}}

{{Commons category|Girandoles}}

Category:Light fixtures

Category:Candles

Category:Furniture

Category:Antiques

Category:Chandeliers