The Marie Therese Chandelier is a style much replicated nowadays but an original is indeed a thing of beauty. The name ‘Marie Therese’ has its origins in the late 18th century with the first chandelier being made to mark the coronation of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa in 1743.

 Maria Theresa was the last of the Habsburg rulers, she was the mother of Marie Antoinette and ruled a large area. Her empire included not just Austria but parts of modern day Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Croatia, the Netherlands and even part of Italy. She was also the Holy Roman Empress so it is perhaps not surprising that Italy is the country we tend to associate most with the Marie Therese chandelier and many of the finest vintage examples certainly originate from Italy.

 The Marie Therese chandelier has a flat metal frame but this is almost entirely covered in glass. Curved glass plaques or’ listels’ as they are known cover the arms. Glass drip bowls feature on every arm and the central column is also glass giving the impression that the chandelier is made entirely from glass. Small glass rosettes cover the joints between the glass parts and from these hang the crystal droplets. Two classic styles are available, the standard chandelier with four or more arms and the birdcage chandelier with a hollow frame and no central column.