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.
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.