Chinoiserie is exotic, stylish, often outlandish and, above all, fun. It piques the imagination. In a chinoiserie interior in 18th- and 19th-century Britain surfaces were adorned with fantastic mountainous landscapes, pagodas, fabulous birds, mandarins, dragons and phoenixes. This exhibition provides a context for Brighton’s magnificent pleasure palace, the Royal Pavilion - the creation of the Prince Regent (from 1810-20) and the future George IV (r. 1820-30). Completed in 1822, its extravagant interiors and imaginative furnishings represent the pre-eminent example of a late flowering of the chinoiserie style.

CHINOISERIE is a French word that means “in the Chinese taste”. It describes a European style of decorative ornament that was wildly popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and still looks great today. Scenes of the Orient abound on textiles, wallpapers, pottery, porcelain, lighting, lamps, lacquered and painted furniture.  The interesting thing about Chinoiserie is the tremendous range and variety of Oriental scenes and fantastical decorative details – Chinese people in elaborate robes with coolie hats, long pigtails and mustaches; intricately detailed pagodas with layer upon layer of fretwork, tassels, and bells; or monkeys, lions, and elephants in costume. Our endless fascination with exotic locales gives the designs relevance even today.

There is a resurgence in popularity of the Chinioserie style in fabric, handpainted wallpapers and furniture. At New Metal Crafts, you will find antique and reproduction Chinoiserie lighting to compliment your interior project.

The lantern pictured was one of two lanterns mounted to the facade of a historic building in downtown Chicago. Dating from the 1920’s, the exterior lanterns were in serious need of restoration. Decades of old paint was built up on the surface of the fixtures obscuring the details of the fine ornamental castings. Judging the size and weight of fixtures mounted outside two stories above the sidewalk can be difficult and we were somewhat suprised when the fixtures were delivered to our factory. The fixtures weighed in at about 350 lbs each.

The fixtures were disassembled and all of the old wiring and sockets were removed. The finished was stripped down to the base metal, in this case cast iron, and repainted with a high quality exterior grade paint. The existing globes were glass with extensive damage at the top where it locked to the fixture. The architect asked that we replace the glass with acrylic which was a safer option and not likely to break when relamping the fixture. The fixtures were rewired and redelivered to the building. With the help of a crane and several workers the lanterns were reattached to the facade.

I have always been interested in the transitional styles of lighting. One area that produced many significant style variations is referred to as Art Deco. This seems to have been a reaction to traditional, more baroque styles. The simplification of style introduced some radical, but very tasteful items.

We have introduced several items that have been inspired by French Art Deco. Our numbers NMC 3212 is part of a series inspired by the French interior designer Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann.

I have also included a picture of Ruhlmann’s “antelopes” wall lamp. We tried to capture the shaded effect in our NMC 3214/PL which takes a PL-13 compact fluorescent lamp.

From our vast collection of unusual, hard-to-find light fixtures, we have a parir of fascinating automobile headlights.  These are French with the words “Phares  Paris” stamped on the top of the headlights.  There is no date nor indication of the car model.

They are bronze and the light was fueled by some gas that passed through a nozzle into the headlight.  The ignited flame was directly in front of small adjustable concave mirror reflector.  In turn, this small reflector had a larger concave mirrored reflector  that filled out the entire backside of the headlight.

There are holes behind the small reflector that probably allowed heat to be transferred. Also, holes at the bottom of the light and an oppening at the top of the light that allowed for air circulation.

The glass face lens is grooved, possibly to diffuse the light and, perhaps to magnify the intensity of the light.  The head light has a cast device that was used to clamp onto a post on the car.  There is also a handle in the back of the headlight to allow for adjustments.  We have a pair of these.  The could be used right and left.  I am very impressed by the quality of the handcraftsmanship.  All of the fine details are riveted.  The headlights are in first class condition.

It would be possible to electrify these piece but you would lose the adjustability.

Besides its obvious historical value, the high quality of these pieces reflects the care and precision that went into building these fine, early automobiles.

Our custom department was recently asked to reproduce an antique French gas lantern for a client who felt the original fixture was perfect for their new home but they needed several fixtures. The original was part of our collection of antique lighting and was acquired in Paris. The original fixture was fitted for gas and dated from the late nineteenth century. The original was carefully documented and new cast parts were made from the original parts. The diffuser is not glass but carefully formed pieces of amber colored mica. The fixtures were electrified and wired for candelabra lamps. After all the parts were made and carefully fitted the fixture was finished in an oil rubbed bronze finish. Once completed everyone was amazed to find they could not pick out the original form the reproductions!

Vintage chandeliers and wall fixtutres have always intrigued me.  During the great growth o f the motion picture industry in the ’20’s. Large, opulent theatres were built all over the U.S.  Some of the lighting fixtures were remarkable.  Some of the great theatre designers developed masterpieces of imaginative design.  Some of the existing theatres were remodeled and made into performing arts centers.  We acquired a number of lighting fixture from theatres that were remodeled or destroyed. Through the years we have reproduced some of these pieces and they became a part of our general collection. Refer to our NMC 1439.  We have custom made this in many sizes.  Some are exactly the size of the original others were modified.   The glass panels we have included  have a beautiful curved, marbleized glass which is made in the U.S..  The individual castings  are made abroad.  The labor to bring all of this together is done in our factory.  This includes various types of electrification including LED, incandescent, and flourescent.  This model has a universal appeal and can be used in residential  and commercial work.