The Chandelier

IFirst, the number of lights and where it hangs

Before a chandelier, before the splendour of its ornament catches your eye, count the lights and look at what lies directly beneath. In the Dining Room, nine lights fall on the centre of the yew table; in the Study, three on the leather-topped desk; in the Fireplace Room, six watch over the sofa and the mantelpiece.

Even within one Manor, the chandeliers do not share a single role. A light that gathers people to a table, a light that narrows the field of thought, a light that folds comfort around a flame, a light that reveals the shadows in fabric and carving. Before switching on, the butler considers how the room is to be used and sets the brightness that is needed.

The furniture beneath tells you the light's role

When the centre of the table and the centre of the light coincide, every eye in the Dining Room is drawn to one point.

IIThe Maria Theresa style is read in the plates that sheath the arms

The Dining Room chandelier has nine lights. Its form, with glass arms sheathed in crystal plates, is the great clue to the Maria Theresa style. The name honours the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa; the style originated in 18th-century Vienna and belongs to the tradition of Bohemian crystal.

The 18th century spoken of here is the origin of the style. The butler describes the features of form seen in this Manor's piece, and the origins of the style, together with the records the Manor holds.

The words we hold dear at the Manor, "glass arms sheathed in crystal plates", are the clue by which the Maria Theresa style is known. The origin of the style and the date of this particular piece are two different pieces of information.

Keep the style's origin and the piece's date apart

Be sure about the features you can see, and reserved about a date and provenance that are not recorded. That is the stance from which furnishings are described correctly.

IIICrystal breaks the light into points

The role of crystal is not to hide the source of light but to break one light into countless small reflections. Plates, drops and cut edges return the light at every angle, passing small sparks to the silver on the table, the gilding of the porcelain and the silver bell. As someone walks past, the reflections shift, and even a quiet room takes on movement.

The butler does not necessarily use every light at the same strength. Layering candelabra, single candlesticks, the electric flame of the fireplace and the wall brackets, he places different light at eye level. Rather than brightening the ceiling alone, he arranges it so that faces, hands and the outlines of the furnishings are gently seen.

Layer the light from the ceiling with the light on the table

When the flicker of a low flame is added to reflections from above, the depth of the furnishings comes into view.

IVSee the acanthus ceiling ornament as part of one composition

In the Dining Room, an acanthus plaster medallion surrounds the base of the chandelier. It is a circular ornament in plaster whose role is to join ceiling and hanging light to the eye. The acanthus is a motif of long lineage in European decoration, used since the Corinthian capitals of ancient Greece.

When you look up, do not isolate the fitting; take in the medallion, the ceiling height, the double doors and the axis with the table together. The Manor's ceilings are 3 m high. Hung too low, a chandelier blocks the view; too high, and its connection with the table weakens. Only when placed on the centre line of the whole room does the light become part of the architecture.

One axis, from the hanging point to the table

The medallion is the ceiling's picture frame for the chandelier.

VThe JOGLAR in the Study is recorded down to its date

On the ceiling of the Study hangs a JOGLAR A0920, a three-light crystal chandelier, recorded as French and of the 1920s. This is a piece whose country and date of manufacture, not merely the origin of its style, are in the Manor's records. It differs from the nine lights of the Dining Room both in number and in the detail of what is recorded.

The Study also holds a bronze standing chandelier 1,640 mm tall: a rare form that stands on the floor rather than hanging from the ceiling. Light falling on the leather-topped desk from above, and light from near the height of a standing figure. The two tiers of light pick out the outlines of the bookcases, the globe and the quill.

Layer the three lights with the light from the floor

Where a piece's date is recorded, that information is given separately from the description of its style.

VIIn the Fireplace Room, six lights face the flame

The Fireplace Room has a JOGLAR A0822 six-light chandelier, French, 1920s. Beneath it, a wine-red velvet sofa; before it, a mantelpiece housing an electric flame. The still light of the ceiling and the flickering light near the floor face one another.

When a film is to be watched, the butler lowers the chandelier and leaves the fire. Even when the 120-inch motorised screen, which disappears when not in use, rises into place, the relationship between fireplace and six lights keeps the character of the room. Turning a light off is itself a way of knowing a chandelier's role.

Choose the light that remains after the rest is turned off

The butler does not darken the room; he decides which light to leave.

VIIIn the Bedroom, bronze and four lights on the wall illuminate the fabric

On the Bedroom ceiling hangs a Majorelle four-light bronze chandelier. On the wall behind the headboard are a pair of Rococo-style wall brackets and a four-light crystal-drop bracket.

The carving of the bed is not lit too strongly; just enough for the gold embroidery and the swell of the capitonné to be seen. Male and female butlers alike set the light to the lady's eye and to how she means to spend her time. A chandelier reveals its role in each room not through the beauty of the single piece alone, but seen together with the wall lights, the fabric and the furniture.

Ceiling and wall divide the shadows in the fabric

The weight of bronze and the fine reflections of crystal enfold the carving and fabric of the bedroom.

VIIIIn relation to what should a chandelier's height be judged?

The height of a chandelier is not decided by the distance from floor to fitting alone, but by its relation to the table beneath, the eye line of those seated, and how it appears on entering through the door. In the Dining Room, within a ceiling height of 3 m, the nine lights sit on the centre line of the table and read as a single composition from directly in front of the double doors.

Before showing the lady to the table, the butler checks the path that passes beneath the light and the view from each seat. It matters that the fitting does not block the eye and does not stack too directly above the candelabra and silver bell on the table. Though it is something to look up at, it is judged from where people sit.

In the Study, the three lights on the ceiling and the 1,640 mm floor-standing light stand at different heights. Rather than finishing with the ceiling, follow how the light falls on the leather of the desk, the arms of the chair and the books on the shelves, and you will see how the lighting supports the work of the room.

IXHow does the crystal's expression change between day and night?

The crystal's expression changes not because the fitting itself changes, but because the fineness of its reflections shifts with the light from the windows, the lights switched on and the lights left burning around it. By day, the clear outlines and the layering of the plates are easy to see; switched on, one light breaks into small points.

In the Fireplace Room, when the six lights are lowered and the electric flame left, the flicker at the lower level, rather than the brilliance of the ceiling, becomes the centre. Even when a film is shown, the butler does not simply darken the room; he chooses the light to leave while checking reflections in the mirrors, where people walk and how their hands can be seen.

On rainy days the daylight softens, and the outlines of bronze and glass are less hidden by strong reflections. Rather than treating that day's brightness as a flaw, look in turn at the form when unlit, the reflections when lit and the layering with other lights, and the same piece can be enjoyed in different expressions.

XWhy do we keep the name of a style and the date of manufacture apart?

The name of a style tells the lineage that a form and its ornament inherit; the date of manufacture tells when that particular piece was actually made. The Maria Theresa style of the Dining Room is a form originating in 18th-century Vienna, but for the Manor's piece no date or provenance is recorded.

By contrast, the JOGLAR A0920 in the Study is recorded as France, 1920s, three lights, crystal, and the JOGLAR A0822 in the Fireplace Room as France, 1920s, six lights.

The male and female butlers of the Japan Butler Association make clear what is known, and do not supply a date from appearances. On that basis, they describe richly the features that can be confirmed before your eyes: the plates sheathing the glass arms, the number of lights, the hanging point and the furniture around.