Object Description
A Fine Ormolu-Mounted Cut Crystal Centrepiece
Firmly Attributed to Baccarat
A large and exceptional glass centrepiece set within a gilded bronze mounted frame, modelled in a naturalistic fashion with branches, leaves and trailing fruit, the hand-cut crystal of the bulbous stem with a plethora of hand-cut starbursts and a scalloped edge.
French, late 19th century
Cristalleries de Baccarat takes its name from the town of Baccarat, where it was founded in 1764 by royal permission of Louis XV, in the midst of the forests of Lorraine, rich of wood necessary to burn in the kilns and to achieve high temperatures; by the early 19th century the production of the finest crystal was achieved, in various shapes and sizes to the most desired fashionable requirements – from elaborately decorated stemware to chandeliers, vases and the great ormolu mounted decorative pieces of the second half of the XIX century, exported all over the world – and still today arguably the finest glass on the market.