Candelabrum

Marie Zimmermann was a prominent metalsmith who created jewelry and other artistic metalwork. She was the daughter of Swiss immigrants and was raised in Brooklyn, New York where she attended Packer Collegiate Institute. In 1897, she began formal artistic training at the Art Students League. She set up a studio suite at the National Arts Club in New York between 1910 and 1914 and worked there until her retirement in 1943. Zimmermann flourished during the periods defined by the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Deco, but her work was stylistically distinct from these movements. She integrated Egyptian, Classical, Chinese, and Japanese stylistic elements into her work, developing an opulent style described as “eclectic revivalism” by her biographers. She was influenced by Arthur Wesley Dow’s approach to art and encouragement to incorporate decorative principles from a variety of cultures. This three-light candelabrum is one of Zimmermann’s most expressive wrought iron objects. It features a foundational base made of four large leaves. The side arms are dramatically bowed and the two side candle sockets are each made of two horizontal and two vertical petals. The central shafts intertwine with the side arms and rise to a fully opened bloom and smaller bud.