Girandoles

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Gilt girandoles adorned countless parlor mantelpieces and tables in mid-19th century American homes. These particular girandoles refer to James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans , which tells the tragic story of the Mohawks and their attempt to rescue a young white woman abducted by a renegade Huron. The central candelabra shows Chief Chingachgook seated on a log, next to Natty Bumppo, whom he raised to manhood. Behind them stands Chingachgook’s son, Unicas. These three, along with Major Duncan Heyward, seen at the right, set out to free the abducted Cora Munro, at the left.

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