This piece is a late 19th-century to very early 20th-century French cut crystal casket mounted in gilt bronze. The rectangular form is constructed of heavy, high-lead crystal deeply cut with sixteen-point starbursts to the base, with sawtooth edging along the rim. The mount is a Louis XVI-revival style gilt-bronze band decorated with alternating anthemion and fluted motifs and centered by a wreath-and-bow escutcheon clasp. The mount appears to be original fire-gilt ormolu. Both the hinge and clasp are functional and well-aligned, consistent with original assembly.
While unmarked, the overall design and mount pattern are consistent with late 19th-century work by Baccarat or related Parisian crystal and bronze workshops such as Saint-Louis or Giroux, all of which commissioned mounts from the same foundries. The heavy-gauge crystal, the quality of the cutting, and the specific wreath clasp are especially typical of Baccarat production between about 1870 and 1900. Because the piece lacks an acid-etched mark (introduced by Baccarat in the 1930s), the most accurate attribution is “attributed to Baccarat or related French workshop, circa 1880–1900.”
Details:
Dimensions: 5 1/4 L” x 3 1/2” W x 4 1/2” H
Medium: Heavy, high-lead crystal mounted in gilt bronze
Age: 1880-1900,
Origin: France, sourced in Paris
Disclaimers: One chip and one flea bite, visible in pictures
