These pictures tell it all. A magnificent pair of Cornelius 6 arm gaseliers. The only other fox and grape we have ever owned and restored is now in Winterthur's American Collection.

The photos show an important pair of bronze 6-arm "fox and grape" gaseliers made by the Philadelphia firm of Cornelius and Company, circa 1845. As you can see, these chandeliers exhibit wonderful detail and superb quality in every respect. The arms are solid cast, 3-dimensional depictions of grapevines with clusters of grapes wrapped around them. As the fable from Aesop suggests, foxes look fondly upwards toward the grapes on the main body surrounding the gas hub, and on the first shaft break. In addition, foxes are enclosed in grapevines on each link of chain that descends from the shaft to the arms. The use of cast bronze chain links is characteristic of the early Rococo period in America. While the shades are not from the 1840s, they are a fine set of 12 deep-etched gas shades from the 1880s whose floral design complements these fixtures nicely. They also diffuse the light and illuminate the wonderful castings that are so prevalent.

This fox-and-grapes design of Cornelius is well documented in historic lighting collections. Both the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Winterthur museum in Delaware own examples of this fixture. In fact, we restored and sold the fixture hanging in Winterthur's American wing about ten years ago. Unfortunately, these fixtures have lost their fine original gilt finish, so we will need to restore them completely. To do this, we use a slow process of applying tinted lacquers in the same manner that was developed during this period. We do all of our finish work ourselves in order to work closely with the client's color specifications.

Other than the finish, these fixtures are generally in excellent original condition. There are no breaks, repairs or missing items with the following minor exceptions. At some point they were shortened to accommodate modern ceiling heights, so one length of tubing is missing, as is one link of chain on each arm. In addition, the original shade holders (or fitters) were lost when it was wired. The fitters in use now are 4" cast brass reproductions.

The approximate current dimensions are 40" wide including shades, and 42"high (this can be lengthened but not shortened).