Wall Sconces for Cranbrook House Attic (Set of Three)

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.

Despite their utilitarian location in an attic space, these brass light fixtures are identical to those installed in George Booth’s office on the ground floor of Cranbrook House. Only the shades differ; here, the brackets are fitted with etched glass bell shades similar to those installed on the wall sconces in the service wing of the house. Both sets of brackets were purchased in 1908.

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