A girandole (; from French, in turn from Italian ''girandola'') is an ornamental branched

candlestick A candlestick is a device used to hold a candle in place. Candlesticks have a cup or a spike ("pricket") or both to keep the candle in place. Candlesticks are less frequently called "candleholders". Before the proliferation of electricity, candl ...

light fixture A light fixture (US English), light fitting (UK English), or luminaire is an electrical device containing an electric lamp that provides illumination. All light fixtures have a fixture body and one or more lamps. The lamps may be in sockets for ...

consisting of several lights, often resembling a small

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent l ...

. Girandoles came into use about the second half of the 17th century, and were commonly made and used in pairs. A girandole has always been, comparatively speaking, a luxurious appliance for lighting, and in the great 18th-century period of French house decoration, the famous ciseleurs designed some exceedingly beautiful examples. A great variety of metals have been used for the purpose. Sometimes, as in the case of candlesticks, girandoles have been made in

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes ...

s. Gilded

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

has been a very frequent medium, but for table use silver is still the favorite material. Girandoles, or lighting devices, have also been attached to looking glasses and furniture. Some popular mirrors, especially the convex style, and some large dressing glasses of the 19th century were known as "girandoles" because of the lighting devices mounted to their sides. The word Girandole (pl. ''żyrandol'') is also used in Poland to describe a traditional folk art. Poland’s “Traditional decorative forms included spider girandoles.”, which are decorative objects hung from the ceiling. Various materials are used to make them, including tissue paper cut, wrapped or manipulated into flowers or

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

. “It was probably this enormous variety of form of spider girandoles that caused them to occur practically universally throughout Poland.” “The most recent version of spider girandoles were festoons and garlands of tissue which were stretched starwise at the ceiling."Frys, Ewa. Iracka, Anna. Pokropek, Marian Folk Art in Poland page #75 Arkady 1988

References

* {{EB1911, wstitle=Girandole, volume=12, page=5 Light fixtures Candles Furniture Antiques Chandeliers