EMPIRE GILT METAL AND CRYSTAL THREE-LIGHT CHANDELIER.19th century, with later drops. Circular glass carona; gilt-metal leaf tip ring, similar larger lower ring, with scrolling-foliate candle arms; cut knob finial - approx. 36 in. high x 30 in. diam. Estimate $1,000-1,500
PROVENANCE: James Madison's ancestral home, Montpelier, in Orange County, VA. In 1844, former First Lady Dolley Madison was forced to sell Montpelier along with most of its furnishings in order to satisfy debts incurred from the extravagant lifestyle of her son from her first marriage, John Payne Todd. Montpelier's new owner, Henry Wood Moncure, resold the estate in 1848 to Benjamin Thornton from Gomersall, Leeds, England. In the 1920s, Thornton's daughter, Ellen P. Thornton, sold the Madison desk and other furnishings to Frank Campbell Littleton of Oak Hill (the former home of President James Monroe) in Aldie, Virginia.
