A Girandole is an ornamental branched candlestick

Candlestick

A candlestick, chamberstick, or candelabrum is a holder for one or more candles, used for illumination, rituals, or decorative purposes. The name 'candlestick' derives from the fact that it is usually tall and stick-shaped.Candlesticks are also called candle holders...

 or lighting device often composed of several lights. Girandoles came into use about the second half of the 17th century, and were commonly made and used in pairs.

A girandole has always been, comparatively speaking, a luxurious appliance for lighting, and in the great 18th century period of French house decoration, the famous ciseleurs designed some exceedingly beautiful examples. A great variety of metals have been used for the purpose. Sometimes, as in the case of candlesticks, girandoles have been made in hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

s. Gilded bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

has been a very frequent medium, but for table use silver is still the favorite material.

Girandoles, or lighting devices, have also been attached to looking glasses and furniture. Some popular mirrors, especially the convex style, and some large dressing glasses of the 19th century were known as "girandoles" because of the lighting devices mounted to their sides.