The description of the color is accurate as brown over black as shown in the close up picture. From 3-4 feet away, the picture of the chandelier on the box, you can barely see the brown brush strokes and it looks like an antique black or dark grey. The three supports it hangs from were a little heavy on the brown, but it won't be visible above the chandelier. I took some fine sandpaper and very lightly sanded them, but too much and the black will come off too. I can't wait to hang this chandelier. It is gorgeous and I am so happy that I bought it. My only concern was the color. Hopefully you can see the colors clearly in my photos. I wanted to match a dark grey iron finish that I had on my hutch and sideboard. This does match enough as it is a ceiling fixture and will not be right against the other furniture in the room.