Category
Architecture and interior design
1951 Chandelier
Creator: Marc Lalique
Date: 1951
Material: Crystal and metal
Pressed glass technique
Property of the Lalique Museum
In 1951, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris organised a major exhibition entitled The Art of Glass. All the major French producers of glass and crystal were represented, as were their Italian, American and Scandinavian competitors. The lighting for the main exhibition hall was provided by a monumental chandelier designed by Marc Lalique, practically 3 metres high and weighing 1.6 tons.
After the exhibition, the chandelier was stored in the cellars of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and more or less forgotten about until 2008 when the museum and the Société Lalique agreed to donate the chandelier to the future Lalique Museum, which was under construction at the time in Wingen-sur-Moder. The architects made a few adjustments to the design of the building in order to give this monumental work pride of place in the museum foyer.
By the way: when it came to mounting the chandelier, no plans or instructions could be found, only a few photographs. So a group of Friends of the Lalique Museum – who were also employees of the Société Lalique – set to work on this gigantic crystal jigsaw puzzle, and succeeded in fitting all 337 pieces of the precious puzzle into their correct place.
