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Pendant lights date back to 2700B.C. and started off with clay hanging lamps with the light illuminating from an animal fat burn. Time passed on and the clay hanging lamps were replaced by glass. When comparing pendant lights to other light fixtures, pedants are rather an infant in respect to all other types of lighting fixtures; falling under the same category, top among them, chandeliers.

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History has it that pendant lights came into being just as a handy substitute but a less meticulous version of chandeliers with nearly similar features and functionality. Actually, these lighting fixtures derived their name from the pendant — a jewelry accessory. In the early 80s, people started seeing European pendants flooding the market with exclusive use of new designs such as glass accompanied by very attractive light shades.

The picture that comes to mind of a typical pendant light is a lone fixture hanging from the ceiling on a string or similar supporting piece of equipment such as a metal rod. Pendant lights are diminutive in detail compared to chandeliers. Instead of exposing their lights, the lower end or tip of a pendant light will employ some kind of shade – another reason why they are called pendant lights.

These light fixtures also go by other names such as drops or suspenders. More often, if lone-hanging units without the additional branches are used unaccompanied, they can give a very striking and impressive effect when two or three of them are suspended at the same time, but at varying heights.

The pendant light can be a simple bare bulb hanging from a cord or attractively encased in a decorative shade made of resin, glass, fabric, or metal. Initially, pendant lights had a crude-type of shell made of blown glass, which ultimately advanced into a very huge style make of different designs.

Today, the wide gamut of styles and designs coupled with client demands has brought pendant light fixtures at the same level with other forms of lighting fixtures. A simple search on the internet and you will be amazed by the extent at which pendant lights have evolved.