Forget the spring, just let it come down under it's own weight, then have a cord (via an eye or two on the ceiling) to pull it up. A loop in the middle of the cord and a hook in the wall to put the loop on to hold the rod (length of wood with cable and socket attched) up.
"Alexa, drop the socket please"
This needs to be in the middle of the room (saw table, spindle moulder, etcetera) but I guess I could have string passing through a series of eyelets leading to the nearest wall. Hmm, not such a bad idea - I wish I'd thought of it :-) I'll investigate the hanging basket doofers but I think you may have won the prize!
No, the ones I remember used a slightly larger than usual "ceiling rose", with the suspension cord winding up and down on a rotary spring mechanism within it. Like this:
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