woman fashion and newstyle

Perhaps the most overworked and erroneously applied term in all the world of antiques and collectibles is "Art Deco."

This phrase is applied willy-nilly to a variety of objects found in antiques shops, antiques malls and online that are described as being anywhere from the "early 20th century" to the 1950s — or even beyond, in some instances.

Some say the roots of Art Deco point to the aftermath of the Universal Exposition held in Paris in 1900, when a group of French artists loosely banded together to form La Society des Artistes Decorateurs. Others say that the beginnings of Art Deco can be traced to 1909 and the stage settings created by Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev for his Ballets Russe in Paris.

The new "modern"look was designed to supplant the sensuous tendrils of Art Nouveau, which had overtaken French fashion in the 1890s. Actually, there were two components to the new style.

The first was a voluptuous look that featured lush depictions of geometrically stylized representations of flowers and fruit. Its icon became the bobbed-hair flapper attired in scant clothing, dancing with the moon as if it were a beach ball or elegantly posing with a wolfhound. This woman can be contrasted with the Art Nouveau woman who was all curved lines — and instead of playing with the moon, she stared at it languidly.

The second branch of Art Deco took its inspiration from industry and the machine. It espoused straight, clean lines; squares, rectangles and triangles; chrome; glass; and no nonsense.

World War I stunted the development of Art Deco, but after the war, members of La Society des Artistes Decorateurs organized the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decorative et Industriels Modernes. This was the great flowering of the Art Deco movement, but it fell out of fashion in Europe quickly thereafter.

However, it remained popular in the United States until the beginning of World War II. But after that, it was no longer an important influence in American design. It should be strongly stated that Art Deco was an artist's movement and that true Art Deco is artistically made with good-quality design and materials.

The two chandeliers in today's question are considered to be Art Deco by most sources we checked, but they are probably from the 1930s and were manufactured much closer to 1925 than to 1945. Sadly, it is impossible to tell from the photographs from which materials these chandeliers might have been made.

The glass appears to be custard yellow, while the metal may be bronze — which would be desirable — but some of the parts look as if they might be plated. We find this pair to be attractive, with five slip shades in grooved half ovals radiating from a shallow, domed circular center.

At auction, we feel this charming pair should bring between $450 and $650 and retail in the $1,000-$1,500 range.