OBJECT HISTORY: Hearthstone House Chandelier

Known as Edison Light Fixtures, the original lighting fixtures of Appleton’s Hearthstone House, were created by Bergmann and Co., in association with the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting, out of New York. They designed the electric lights with the same general components as common gas-light fixtures of the period. The lights featured swing brackets, drop lights, and portable light. Users could also use an inverting device for directing the light in any position.^[1] The Bergmann and Co manufacturers offered a wide mixture of designs including custom designs.^[2] This brass chandelier is the first one would see when entering the house.

Hanging from the high ceiling of the main foyer from a long thin pole, next to a grand ornately carved wooden staircase on one side, and a fireplace decorated with delicately painted tiles on the other, the chandelier truly serves as the main exhibit to anyone entering the home. The chandelier itself consists of four individual lights, with each fixture around the bulb in the shape of curling flower petals. The extravagance of this chandelier’s fixtures, and others in entertaining rooms in the home, is contrasted in private rooms such as the upstairs bedrooms which have fixtures that are much less ornate in comparison.

Written by Trase Tracanna, June 2021.

FOOTNOTES:

^[1] 1882 Edison Company for Isolated Lighting — Circulars and Brochures Sales and service; Incandescent lamp; Dynamos and generators  [CA002]  Primary Printed Series — Electric Light Companies — Domestic: Edison Company for Isolated Lighting (1882-1885) [CA002A1; TAEM 96:115] Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

^[2] 1883 [Supplied year] Bergmann & Co — Circulars and Brochures Sales and service; Isolated station  [CA002] Primary Printed Series — Electric Light Companies — Domestic: Edison Company for Isolated Lighting (1882-1885) [CA002C; TAEM 96:185] Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.