This is an example of how silver objects served as status symbols over practicality in Victorian and Edwardian era homes. Incorporating silver into table décor was a popular decorating element for wealthy Americans and made even more accessible after the Industrial Revolution as manufacturing processes were mechanized. Cecile Smith, long time employee at 1906 McFaddin Avenue recalled how the sterling silver peacocks, manufactured around 1900, eventually became decorative pieces as the impractical design impeded functionality.

Ida installed this electrified chandelier in the formal dining room probably in the late 1930s or early 1940s. The original Tiffany lampshade, chosen by W.P.H. ‘s sister Di Averill, was small for this space, albeit, beautiful.

The chandelier was manufactured around 1926 in the French Directoire style, a Neoclassical style of design popular in France during the period of the Directory, the French Revolutionary Government in power from 1795–1799. The style was fleeting in France. However, it was prominent in early Regency style in England and inspired United States cabinet maker and furniture designer Duncan Phyfe. Designers moved away from the preferred opulence of the recently overthrown monarchy. The furniture and ornamentation of the time reflected simplicity, using less expensive materials. Designers creating in the Directorie style were often influenced by objects recently excavated at Pompeii, the city destroyed in 79 A.D. by volcanic eruption. Excavation of Pompeii began in 1748 and mesmerized the world over.

The brass frame of the chandelier holds glass prism accents. The chandelier is supported from the ceiling by a brass chain. Prism strands run from the upper ring to the wider ring at the base forming a cone shape and prisms form concentric circles below the wider ring that get smaller has they layer down ending in a round glass prism.

To see the Tiffany Lampshade that served as the original light source in the formal dining room, click here.

The Tiffany Lampshade was produced by Tiffany Studios around 1906 in the favrile glass technique with a pattern of dogwood blossoms and green leaves. A bronze beaded boarder encircles both the top and bottom of the lampshade. The object attaches to the ceiling with bronze hooks and chains.

Video Transcript:
Louis Comfort Tiffany born in 1848, son of Charles Tiffany, the founder of the famous jewelry company, was trained as a painter, but glass became his preferred artistic medium. He went on to become one the most prolific and inspirational glassmakers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the 1880s Tiffany focused on innovative methods of glass manufacturing. Traditional stained glass artists dismissed his techniques as radical. One such technique, which Tiffany called “Favrile” meaning “hand made” in French, featured brilliant iridescent colors. His work was in demand, gaining the artist international recognition.

Tiffany started his many design companies and studios beginning in 1878 with financial backing from his father and other investors. He hired specialized craftspeople, both men and women, to produce his wares. Nature was the primary inspiration for the studios’ works. Various artists created blown-glass vases, glass windows, lamps, pottery, jewelry, and more under the name of Tiffany Studios as he oversaw their work, holding it to his high standards.

Consumers purchased their pieces from Tiffany’s New York showroom, catalogs, or department stores.

The Tiffany lampshade in the McFaddin-Ward House collection was produced around 1906 and was chosen for its location in the formal dining room by the home’s original owner Di Averill, W.P.H. 's sister. Ida McFaddin later replaced the Tiffany lampshade in the 1930s or 40s with the current chandelier.

Curatorial team member, Julianne Haidusek, connects the historical concept of conspicuous consumption to the lived experiences of the McFaddins during the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Video Transcript:
Conspicuous consumption was a 19th-century social byproduct of consumerism and capitalism. In short, it was the utilization of luxury and aesthetic objects in order to communicate wealth and status to a community. The McFaddins, as contemporaries of this time period as well as prominent social figures in the Beaumont community, utilized this social phenomenon in order to communicate the same. Goods such as silver, fine china, and crystal were used within the McFaddin home in order to communicate this wealth to any who would enter their household.