Niermann Weeks’ Chevalier Chandelier Adds a Restrained Touch of Class to Your Interior

Traditional Home (March 2010) includes a lovely photo of Niermann Weeks’ Chevalier Chandelier in a family home Manhattan Beach, California.  The owners have moved hither and yon in the past, and in this home asked designer Mark Williams for a sparse, restrained interior in a palette echoing the nearby beach.  He designed most of their furnishings and found our chandelier a perfect complement. The home owners are happy with his work, and I am honored that he included our chandelier in the dining room.

Niermann Weeks' Chevalier Chandelier in Traditional Home Magazine, Design by Mark Williams

Our chandelier started its life as a fussy element in a free-standing Italian baroque torchiere.  According to Wikipedia, torchieres were candelabra, usually with two or three lights. When it was first introduced in France towards the end of the 17th century the torchiere mounted one candle only, and when the number was doubled or tripled the improvement was regarded almost as a revolution in the lighting of large rooms.

We found our mother antique somewhere in Europe about 15 years ago, thinking that the candle part would look great once we removed it from its heavy base. We also re-arranged the wavy octopus of arms for better definition and light diffusion. The final chandelier needed to take up a decent amount of space yet allow people to see through it to the beauty of the rest of the room. Merely describing the new chandelier was, however, the easy part.

Developing the physical prototype took many trials. For fire protection standards, we specified arms of hollow metal tubing within which electrical wiring would be threaded.  Our poor prototype-maker had difficulties selecting tubing and wiring that would curve to our esthetic standards.  He’d make a sample set of arms and the curvaceous central pole, and we’d reject them as not pretty enough, or too difficult to use, yadda,yadda.  Everybody got a little surly until just the right combination of form and function emerged.

Then we had to determine the finish. Joe wanted to make this fixture unique in our line, to add a new dimension of light and air.  To that end, our daughter Eleanor selected hanging tassels of slightly different shapes and gilding. Daughter Claire suggested an overall finish of faux pewter, real gold leaf, and faux rust.  Then Joe said let’s use beeswax candle sleeves under the light bulbs.  This is a close-up of the final finish sample showing the faux rust and faux pewter.

faux pewter finish

Put it all together and presto….

Niermann Weeks' Chevalier Chandelier

Our Chevalier Chandelier premiered in 2004 in a Montecito showhouse, thanks to designer Barry Dixon. His mandate with this showhouse was to firmly anchor the home to Montecito’s earth tones, sky line, and clarity of light.  I have always admired Barry’s creative approach to interior design, but this room blew me away.  I had to call him at home to rave, and this is still my favorite setting for our chandelier.  He perfectly combined the local earth tones with the interesting geometric shapes of our chandelier, the chairs, and the mural.  As an added bonus for me, Barry anchored the walls with a pair of Niermann Weeks’s Beaton Mirrors.

Our Chevalier Chandeliers and Beaton Mirrors in a Montecito Showhouse, Design by Barry Dixon

For more information, please see these websites:

www.niermannweeks.com
www.barrydixon.com
www.markjwilliams.com and for his own furniture line www.altonhouse.com
www.traditionalhome.com