Vintage Hot Air Balloon Pendant Lamp — Handmade Metal

A hot air balloon in handmade metal, hung as a pendant light — basket, envelope frame and rigging, with the bulb inside the envelope.

Details

• Pendant ceiling light
• Handmade metal construction with hand-applied finish
• Balloon envelope frame, basket and rigging detail
• Suits a nursery, child's room, landing, hallway or study

The subject

The Montgolfier brothers made the first free flight with passengers in 1783, over Paris. The passengers were a sheep, a duck and a rooster — sent up first because nobody knew whether the upper air was breathable. The sheep stood in for a human, the duck as a control, and the rooster because it was a bird that did not fly high. All three landed safely.

Humans went up two months later. It was another 120 years before anyone managed powered flight.