Paperweight

1845 - 1880

This flat, half-spherical paperweight is decorated with 68 tiny glass rods of different sizes and colours fused together in four circles around a central rosette. This type of ornamental glass is known as millefiore. The Baccarat glass factory near Lunéville was founded by the Bishop of Metz, Monseigneur de Montmorency-Laval, in 1764. In 1816 Aimé-Gabriel d'Artigues, owner of the Verreries de Vonêche near Namur, purchased the factory. The production of millefiore glassware, including paperweights, started with Baccarat in 1846. The Clichy factory also produced similar millefiore paperweights.

• Actors

  Verreries de Baccarat (Maker)

• Places and dates

  Baccarat, 1845? - 1880? (Production)

• Materials

  Glass

• Category

  Writing instruments

• Object number

  S3692

• IPR status

  Public domain