Every Single Step French Lighting Company Mathieu Lustrerie Takes to Make Its Sea-urchin Chandelier
Régis Mathieu, head of the family-owned French lighting company Mathieu Lustrerie, has found inspiration for his ornate chandeliers from such disparate sources as Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and the banyan tree. For his latest collection, he looked to the ethereal marine-life drawings of 19th-century German artist and biologist Ernst Haeckel.
“Those crazy designs were so, so modern,” he says. “Also, Gustave Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower, was inspired by the same artist.”
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Shaped like underwater organisms including corals, jellyfish, and even a bejeweled sea urchin (seen here), the light fixtures echo the natural motifs and fluid lines of the Art Nouveau movement. “For me, Art Nouveau is a very crazy period, because in the 19th century, we discovered electricity,” explains Mathieu. “We started to put light behind the glass, and the light shined down, which was never possible with a flame.”
His father, Henri, founded the company in 1948, and now Mathieu’s daughter, Inès, is gradually taking the reins. It also restores and reissues chandeliers using centuries-old techniques. Most recently, it returned more than 70 fixtures inside Paris’s Notre-Dame to their original glory in the aftermath of the fire that destroyed much of the cathedral. Mathieu oversees a workshop and a gallery in the City of Light, as well as an atelier and lighting museum in the Provençal village of Gargas, where he houses his personal collection.
The sea-urchin chandelier takes three to four months to produce, and each artisan makes their own tools for tasks such as carving and chiseling. Because the design is extremely difficult to execute, the company is able to manufacture a maximum of 10 a year, and the model is priced accordingly at about $55,000. Says Mathieu, “I like to say that this project could be over Louis XV’s table.”
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1. First Sketch
Mathieu begins with sketches. For the sea-urchin chandelier, the Lustrerie team spent close to a year turning it into a working prototype. “We tried to think about production and find solutions for things that weren’t working,” he explains.
2. Shaping
The chandelier goes from a rough sketch on paper to 3-D-printed pieces ready for sand casting, a process that presses them into densely packed sand until a mold is formed. Then, molten bronze is poured into the mold, acquiring its shape.
3. A Proper Fit
After the metal solidifies, the parts are removed and tested to ensure they fit together. The crown is composed of five solid sand-cast bronze elements, while two hollow half spheres are joined to create the central orb. Because metal contracts when it cools, the artisans account for shrinkage. “It’s not easy for us to close it as a perfect piece because it’s not made by a computer; it’s made by casting,” Mathieu says.
4. Light Reflections
Using 18th-century chiseling techniques, a craftsman carves light-reflecting details into the bronze with a sharp-edged tool and a hammer, creating a striking contrast on the metal’s surface. According to Mathieu, “It’s a way to engrave the bronze, or to have parts of the bronze reject the light while other parts catch the light.”
5. Buff and Shine
Next, a buffing wheel polishes the pieces to remove any rough edges or scratches. This step also ensures the chandelier will achieve the proper shine and luster.
6. Bath Time
Mathieu Lustrerie gilds the metal by immersing it in a corrosive electrolyte bath, which deposits a decorative gold coating. The solution is altered depending on the shade desired. “It’s a little bit unique, because when I do the patina, I don’t want to have something standard,” Mathieu explains. “Because we do our own gilding, we have our own bath, and I can mix the finish.”
7. Stone Studding
A craftsman uses tweezers to stud the chandelier with 800 individually placed semiprecious stones through which light will be dispersed. Mathieu sources the gems himself and has executed custom color combinations for clients by request. “I’ve done one in black and silver, amethyst and silver, gold finish with green stones,” he says.
8. Assembly
The final step in the manufacturing process is assembly, which involves installing the electrical components, including putting LED lights on the bottom of the chandelier and behind each stone. Electrical tests are also performed at this stage.
9. A Floating Finish
Once the light fixture is put together, Mathieu’s team will assist with hanging it in the client’s space. The sea-urchin chandelier, which weighs approximately 155 pounds, is suspended from a chain that Mathieu (pictured) designed to conceal the cables running through it. He also created a special canopy to hide the transformer. “It’s very heavy,” he says. “But when it’s finished, you feel that it’s floating.”
