Wall Sconces for Cranbrook House Entrance Vestibule (Pair)

Edward F. Caldwell & Co. was one of America’s most prominent lighting and furnishing firms in the early twentieth century. They played a leading role in the transition from designing lights for gas, oil, or candle flames to electricity. For their clientele, which included many of the wealthiest individuals and institutions in America, they offered an extensive catalog of thousands of designs for chandeliers, wall sconces, table, and floor lamps, in styles ranging from medieval revival to the cutting edge of Art Deco modernism.

George Booth contracted with Caldwell & Co. in 1908 to supply the vast majority of the lighting fixtures and free-standing lamps for his new home, Cranbrook House – wired for electricity during the building process, in anticipation of access to power not then available in Bloomfield Hills. When Cranbrook House was extended between 1917 and 1920, George Booth returned to Caldwell & Co. for the necessary fixtures. In 1908 and later, the Booths also purchased furniture and decorative art items from the firm’s extensive stock of historical revival furnishings.

This pair of sconces in the entryway vestibule at Cranbrook House set the tone for the lighting fixtures throughout the home. The brass brackets evoke the gas wall lights of a previous generation, the brilliance of the new electric bulbs softened by a frosted and etched glass shade. The fixtures are very similar in design to those installed in the staff wing of Cranbrook House (see CEC 1162), also by Caldwell & Co. However, these sconces are distinguished by their polished brass surface and more elaborate lightbulb bases.

Mariam Hale
2023-2025 Collections Fellow
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
July 2024