QZ108 STAR ROCK

QZ108 Rock Crystal Chandelier    DESCRIPTION:    Rock-crystal chandelier. Contemporary design, France. Rock-crystal from Brazil and gilded bronze. Diameter 18 in. (chain can be adjusted). History comes from far away, in a space where time seems to have stopped. Space still virgin, where nature has kept a pristine aspect, where the earth has held unknown treasures being in Brazil in our case, or Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean. Rock crystal has always been a precious mineral through the ages; from Antiquity to the Renaissance, it was found in palaces and "cabinets de curiosity" sometimes in their natural state called "Etat Brut," or cut in pointed shapes without any other artifice. The vogue of rock crystal became in Renaissance times a favorite gem among rulers who took pride in showing their best pieces in "Kunstkammer" in Vienna, Austria, Dresden, Germany, and Prague, Bohemia. There is no great collection without this precious mineral, sometimes decorated with gold, si