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18th Century Crystal Chandelier from the Royal Crystal Manufacturer La Granja
About the Item
A palatial scale multi-tiered 18th century neoclassical crystal chandelier sourced from the renowned Royal Crystal Manufacturer of La Granja in Spain. This chandelier comes with an incredible story and provenance and was one of about twelve identical chandeliers that originally hung in an early baroque church called the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta, Malta. The baroque church, which was built in 1570 by the Knights of St John, as was all of Valletta at the time was completely destroyed as co-lateral damage in successive German Luftwaffe bombing raids on Malta's Grand Harbour in 1942.
Luckily and through wise pre-emptive measures taken my the church's clergy, the chandeliers, paintings and other valuable religious artifacts belonging to the church were taken down when the air battle over the central Mediterranean intensified, put in crates and safely stored in subterranean rooms dug in the rocks under the Basilica. The crates remained in the underground bunkers for the duration of the war and for several years after..
After the war, and compelled by a growing congregation which had outgrown the original Baroque Church, the Malta Diocese chose to abandon the past and build instead a neoclassical style church capped by a massive 40 metre dome or rotunda. Contrary to meek footprint of the original baroque church, the new church, built between 1958 and 1981, now dominates the Valetta skyline.
While paintings and other religious objects were all reintroduced to the new church, the chandeliers still in their wooden crates were deemed unsuitable for use in the new church with its massive rotunda and rather than relocating them to other churches in Malta, the Malta Diocese decided to sell them off to private collectors to raise funds for the construction of the new church.
This chandelier was acquired privately in Malta from a collector who had bought one in the initial sale by the Diocese.
Finally, referring to the last six photos presented for this chandelier, the two black and white photos taken at the start of the war, show the inside of the 1570 baroque church with the chandeliers hanging along both sides of the nave. Actually one of the photos also shows roof and wall damage behind the high altar at the back end of the nave resulting from the first bomb that hit the church while the chandeliers were still in place. The next photo shows the inside of the new Basilica. The replacement chandeliers can be seen hanging and covered by tarpaulins around the lower perimeter of the dome. The last three photographs show similar chandeliers as the one offered here hanging in other churches in Malta today that were spared the bombing.
- Attributed to:Real Fábrica de Cristales de La Granja (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 80 in (203.2 cm)Diameter: 30 in (76.2 cm)
- Style:Neoclassical (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1750
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Vancouver, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4631214748481
About the Seller
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Established in 1981
1stDibs seller since 2019
139 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 7 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Vancouver, Canada
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
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