Gilded and chiselled bronze; crystal.
H. 175 cm. (69 in.); D. 105 cm. (41 ½ in.).
PROVENANCE: private collection.
Similar chandeliers are kept in the Villa Reale or Villa Bonaparte, Via Palestro, 16, Milan, which was built and decorated by Leopoldo Pollack (1751-1806) between 1790 and 1796 for Count Ludovico Barbiano di Belgioioso (1728-1801); other examples were part of the collection of Frederick of Habsburg-Lorraine (1856-1936), Archduke of Austria and Duke of Teschen, great-grandson of Francis I, Emperor of Austria—he was the son of Archduke Charles-Ferdinand of Teschen and Elisabeth of Habsburg-Hungary (1856-1936) —at the Palace Erzherzog Albrecht (Albertina) in Vienna; These chandeliers were included in the auction held in the Austrian capital, under the supervision of Albert Kende, from 8th to 10th February 1933 (see doc. below); mention should be also made of a similar chandelier from a former Austrian Embassy in Paris, now in the collections of the Mobilier national in Paris (inv. GML-9460-000).
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: Enrico Colle, Angela Griseri et Roberto Valeriani,
Bronzi Decorativi in Italia, Milan, 2001, p. 248-249, cat. n°. 70
