[Illustration:
ONE FROM A SET OF FOUR PAIRS OF WALL-LIGHTS
MADE IN DUBLIN, 1820. _In the Author's collection._
_From a drawing in the Author's possession._
_(See also Plates IV., V., and VI.)_]
=WALL AND TABLE LIGHTS.=
Candle-lights became very popular during the early Adam period,
and continued to be made for many years. Their conception was, I
am sure, French in its origin. A great many were made in Ireland
(especially advertised in Dublin), and they were permeated with Adam
feeling--graceful and simple.
These lights fell into disuse when gas became popular, and were stowed
away in boxes and cellars and lumber-rooms; while others, still less
fortunate, were actually thrown away or sold to the ragman for a few
shillings.
Of those I have unearthed, a great number are in varying degrees of
bad and good condition, and it is most interesting, with the aid of
some original drawings (which I am fortunate enough to possess), to
reconstruct these lovely fittings to their original beauty (see Plates
IV., V., VI., VII.). Out of about five or six broken lights I can
generally reconstruct one pair.
In my determined search for these treasures, I find that the metal back
plates which fitted on the wall and held the glass lights are in nine
cases out of ten missing, and after puzzling over this fact for some
time I discovered they were nearly always utilised by being left on the
walls and the gas-pipe brought through them! In any case, all the metal
mounts appear to have been removed from the branches, cups, etc., and I
think they were probably taken off and used for various purposes by the
"house-carpenter," or handy man, and held far more value for him than
the discarded glass, which is now rapidly becoming priceless.
In one instance I lost the ferrule off the end of my whip, and one of
our men said he'd "put it right." I noticed a fine bit of chased brass
appear on it. I said, "Larry, where did you get that?" "Shure, me lady,
it's off th' auld glass light that was tooken from t' hall"! And it
was! Irishmen have natural instincts--they always know a good thing,
and they can unerringly tell you if a person is "someone" or not!
=CHANDELIER DROPS, PENDANTS, AND ORNAMENTS.=
There are many interesting things to be learnt about the drops which
hang on chandeliers and table lights. The first and most surprising is
that most of them, even those found on quite early Irish chandeliers,
were made in England and France! _Very few were manufactured in
Ireland._
The genuine old Irish drops (so far as my personal observation and
experience goes) were always round or _almond_ shaped. The most
characteristic distinction between them and those made in other
countries is that they are very flat when viewed sideways (see
illustration No. 3, page 8), whereas the English and French come to a
point in the centre--sometimes on one side, more often on both--not a
sharp point, of course, but still a point (see illustration No. 4, page
8, which will make the difference quite clear). No. 1 (page 6) is a
very rare specimen.
[Illustration:
No. 3.--FACE. No. 3.--SIDE VIEW. No. 4.--FACE. No. 4.--SIDE VIEW.
No. 5. No: 6. No. 7.
ORNAMENTAL DROPS.]
_All the chandeliers and lights made for my family had in every case
these Irish drops, being, of course, special orders._ When seen on a
chandelier it is remarkable how much more graceful the Irish drops
look; they are softer, more richly facetted, smoother, and, of course,
deeper in colour. The large pendants (see illustrations Nos. 2, 5, 6,
7) for ornaments and stars for chandeliers were manufactured in an
interesting way. They were made in _ladles_, designed to the required
outline and size, with a long handle (see illustration below). The
ladle was dipped in the pot of molten glass, withdrawn full, and after
being allowed to cool slightly until the glass had set, tipped out into
a "dry" furnace (known as a lehr) for some hours; by that time the
glass was hard and fit to be facetted by hand.
In Italy and Spain I have watched the glass-makers at much the same
work, but in these instances the glass was made in cut moulds, so
that the glass was _pressed_ into a pattern while hot, and not cut
afterwards.
The illustrations are of Irish ornaments in my possession on family
chandeliers, and vary in length from 5 in. to 8-1/2 in.
[Illustration:
BLOW-PIPE AND LADLES (one shown side view).
USED IN MAKING STARS AND ORNAMENTAL PENDANTS.]
=THE CHARACTERISTICS OF IRISH GLASS=
Irish glass, more especially Waterford, of the typical period, may be
distinguished from contemporary English glass and foreign and modern
fakes of all nationalities by a number of characteristics which may be
grouped under the headings of Weight, Colour, Resilience, Feeling to
the Touch, and Ring. Let me take these one by one.