Chandelier, glass shards and wire, 'Northern Fleet', Deborah Thomas, UK, 1988.

Chandelier constructed using numerous pieces of broken glass jars, each individually wired to an armature. Lit with individual halogen lights.

As sold by Themes & Variations in 1988, ‘Northern Fleet’ was lit with a single bulb, although it was originally intended to have had multiple halogens. Deborah Thomas had been using halogen lights from 1987 (for example in 'Blue Flame', 1987, and 'Frozen Branch', 1988), and although the chandelier was conceived to be lit by halogens, it was made on spec for the Gallery, at a time when it was difficult for her to bear the expense of halogens. She intended to offer the eventual purchaser the option of halogen lights, although when the chandelier was sold the purchaser was happy with the single light bulb.

Themes & Variations brought the chandelier back from the client in 2007. While at the gallery in 2010, the chandelier was cleaned by hand, after which it was inspected and sections were strengthened by Deborah Thomas who also instructed the electrician on the re-lighting of the chandelier with halogens as originally intended.

In January 2011, immediately prior to its acquisition, Deborah Thomas carried out some minor repairs to the chandelier at the Museum. This entailed replacing a small number of broken or missing glass shards that had become damaged or dislodged at the foot of the chandelier, in order to correct its overall shape.

Historical significance: The ‘Northern Fleet’ Chandelier is a spectacular example of an important trend in British design in the 1980s of reusing and recycling materials to create modern, ethically responsible objects. ‘Skip Culture’, as it became known, was perhaps most famously embodied in the work of Ron Arad and of Creative Salvage – the collective of Tom Dixon, Mark Brazier Jones, Nick Jones and later Andre Dubreuil. As the Creative Salvage manifesto of 1983 stated, ‘The key to Creative Salvage’s success does not lie in the expensive research and development costs of modern day products. But in the recycling of scrap to form stylish and functional artefacts for home and office’.

Although Deborah Thomas came from the discipline of Theatre Design she arrived at a similar aesthetic of re-use and economy of materials, particularly in her recycled glass chandeliers designed for a variety of settings including theatre productions, exhibitions, public spaces and private homes. In the second half of the 1980s Liliane Fawcett of Themes and Variations Gallery in Westbourne Grove presented the work of Deborah Thomas alongside that of Tom Dixon, Mark Brazier Jones, Andre Dubreuil and Ron Arad. The 'Northern Fleet' chandelier demonstrates a drama and sophistication in the handling of recycled material that is distinct from the work of these other designers.

The chandelier was made at Deborah Thomas's workshop in Carpenter's Road, Stratford.

The reuse and recycling of materials to create modern, ethically responsible objects became an important trend within British design in the 1980s. Deborah Thomas's ‘Northern Fleet’ chandelier, which is constructed from shards of broken glass, is a spectacular example of this movement. Thomas previously studied Theatre Design, and her recycled glass chandeliers have been made for variety of settings, including theatre productions, exhibitions, public spaces and private homes.

C.49-2011