Maison Baguès is a celebrated Parisian lighting and decorative metalwork house, founded in the nineteenth century and best known for luxurious chandeliers, wall lights and lamps that combine gilt bronze or gilded iron with cut glass and rock crystal. The firm supplied grand private residences, hotels and ocean liners, and its name became a byword for glamorous French lighting.
The work most associated with the house dates from the 1920s through to the 1960s, when Baguès produced elaborate fixtures dressed with crystal drops, beaded chains and naturalistic ornament such as leaves, flowers, birds and palm fronds. Its pieces sit between the formality of eighteenth-century French styles and the theatrical taste later described as Hollywood Regency, and they were often supplied through leading decorators of the day. The name has become so widely used that many unattributed gilt-metal and crystal fittings are now described as being in the Baguès style, and collectors should distinguish these from documented examples. Signs of genuine quality include finely chased and gilded metalwork, hand-cut crystal, careful wiring channels and good original gilding. Such fittings remain a favourite of designers seeking a sparkling focal point for a drawing room, dressing room or bathroom.
