I notice some 90s chandeliers, have sometimes a separate down light in the center. Usually these seem to use small Par bulbs. It seems sometimes the center bulb is off though with the outer ones all lighted. Was that part ever separately switched?

And it made me think of this because my aunt has 7 light chandelier, where the outer 6 are the bell shaped shades. The shade in the middle is bowl shaped, and I noticed the outer 6 bulbs were lit but the center was not. So I assume it’s either on two separate switches/dimmers, or else the center bulb is burned out or taken out for being too bright. I noticed the dimmer for it was grouped with another light switch so possibly the switch is for the center light?

My grandparents have an octagonal-shaped chandelier in polished brass with beveled glass panels in their dining room; it's from 1991. It has six candelabra bulbs on the top and a single R16 downlight in the center. There's a three-way twist knob switch on the chandelier that switches between the candelabra bulbs, the downlight, and both.

I believe larger home chandeliers especially with a larger centre lamp have those three way switches built in. Usually, there is also a wall switch (or dimmer) that powers down everything. Growing up, we had a similar arrangement over the kitchen table.

For larger fixtures, like in churches and the like, they are oftentimes wired separately in sections, each with its own switch in the switch panel.

Very interesting. I never knew any ceiling lights had rotary switches other than those early antique pendants or pan type fixtures.

I do remember that the chandeliers we had in our house in Germany had two switches controlling the five lamp holders, so you could have two, three or all five on.

I've seen these split-switched from wall mounted switches and/or dimmers. If I had one of these in my house, I'd replace it with an MV cobra-head. 

The light my dad put up in the dining room when I was growing up had separately switched lights.  It had a wooden base, with a central 4" globe light, with 4 arms with lights on them.  Kind of made me think of a ceiling fan light kit.  A pull chain could select the central globe, the 4 arm lights, or both sets together.  The wiring came together at the top above the mounting plate, so they could have been wired to separate switches if desired.  It may not have been a true chandelier, but it was very 80s.