Chandelier, circa 1925

Edgar Brandt, the remarkably versatile artist-blacksmith of the early twentieth century, built his career on applying modern metalworking technologies to express the spirit of his time. Composed of geometric forms and motifs drawn from nature like birds, flowers, waterfalls, sunbursts and clouds, Brandt’s superbly crafted metalwork, with its refined and elegant scrolls, came to embody the essence of French Art Deco. He believed that decorative arts had relied on historicist models for too long, and although he mastered traditional forging with hammer and anvil, he readily adopted power hammers, oxy-acetylene welding, and other modern tools. These innovations, he felt, offered far greater expressive freedom. As he stated, “In order to create, the artist must use all the means that science places at his disposal.” This forward-looking philosophy allowed him to develop an ironwork vocabulary that earned him international acclaim.

Already well known before the Paris Exhibition of 1925, Brandt achieved even greater fame with his extraordinary Porte d’Honneur, created with the architects André Ventre and Henri Favier, and with his own presentation in the Salon d’Ameublement. When the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes opened on April 15, 1925, Brandt served as a judge for the metalwork section and presented works throughout the fair. His display in booth 45 was distinguished by masterpieces including the magnificent L’Oasis five-panel screen, often considered his finest work, as well as the present model of extraordinary twenty-light chandelier, its grand scrolling arms unfurling like a regal flower. In the same booth, planned as a narrow vestibule, Brandt assembled tables, grills, sconces, torchères and vases. Critics and visitors alike praised the installation, affirming his status as hors concours.

Brandt’s extensive contributions to the 1925 exhibition led to major commissions, among them his first American project: the entrance, window frames, decorative ironwork, and grilles for the Madison-Belmont Building at Madison Avenue and 34th Street, along with the interior showroom for the Cheney Brothers fabric house. These successes prompted him to open a New York office, Ferrobrandt Inc., and to expand his Paris atelier. Over the following years he produced metalwork for hotels, embassies, museums, ocean liners including the Normandie and for elite European and American clients. He often collaborated with leading designers such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, and for his lighting designs he partnered with Daum in Nancy, who supplied colored glass shades. Eager to unite art and industry, Brandt combined wrought iron with bronze, steel, or aluminum, experimenting with varied patinas and introducing unprecedented technical and aesthetic possibilities. The interwar period proved a golden age for metalwork, and Brandt emerged as its most influential figure, redefining the role of elaborated metalwork in architecture and interior design.

The present chandelier embodied this achievement at the Paris 1925 fair. Suspended above a circular table supported by large S-scrolls, it featured two tiers of delicate floral arms adorned with vines, leaves, stylized flowers, and small berries. The larger arms curved outward and upward while the smaller ones spiraled downward, creating a dynamic interplay of forms that could be appreciated from multiple angles. Twenty bell-shaped, acid-etched Daum glass shades incised with paired C-scrolls echoed the ironwork, and four graduated shades below added further illumination. Lightly gilded iron over a rich brown-gold patina and glass shades flecked with verreries métalliques produced a warm glow that harmonized with the room’s palette of gray, silver, and gold and with the indirect cove lighting above. The chandelier served as the radiant centerpiece of a space that showcased the artistic and technical mastery that made Edgar Brandt the preeminent ironworker of his era.