Vasari Auction - Saint Louis

Saint Louis

Luxury and refinement have defined the Saint Louis crystal for centuries. Star of auctions, like Baccarat or Daum, let's take a brief look back at the epic of crystal and the history of this extraordinary manufacture.

A first factory opened its doors in 1586 in the Muntzhal region. At that time the factory was making goblet and window glass, the secret of crystal not having been pierced and crystal glass still stammering.

The recipe for crystal was discovered in 1675 by Georges Ravenscroft in England. The secret will be well with the English for almost a century.

Louis XV, jealous of this English monopoly, allowed the founding of a glassworks in Baccarat, then of the Verrerie Royale Saint Louis by letter patent of 1767.

In 1781, M. de Beaufort, former director of the manufacture, discovered the composition of crystal by the addition of lead oxide. Presented at the Academy of Sciences, the latter gives it the name of crystal factory.

The tone is set. All that remains is to assert oneself in this new technique and perfect new know-how, to establish itself in a market hitherto held by the English.

From 1829, the manufacture focused solely on crystal production and developed new techniques:

- crystal cast in 1830
- crystal tinted in the mass or doubled in color in 1837.

Saint Louis, molded crystal lamp base, sold for 38 euros - Saint Louis, colored crystal ashtray, sold for 50 euros

This last technique will become a key asset in the production of the Saint Louis manufacture: the crystal is tinted in the mass by the introduction of metallic oxides such as gold for red or cobalt for blue.

In 1834, the manufacture created the Trianon service, the oldest model still manufactured today, and introduced the notion of tableware with several glasses depending on the service

Saint Louis, modèle Trianon.

A few years later, Saint Louis launched into the production of chandeliers.

The crystal works gave an important place to size, to the wheel to begin with, then to acid etching from 1867.

This notion of engraving is particularly important on doubled glass: the craftsman, using his wheel, will attack the colored part to create a decoration by removing the upper part. One of the most famous Saint Louis crystal table service perfectly illustrates this technique, it is the Tommy model, created in 1928 in honor of English soldiers and presented to King Georges VI in Versailles during an evening celebrating Franco-English friendship (irony of fate when we remember the beginnings of crystal).

Saint Louis Modèle Tommy

Synonymous with luxury; the Saint Louis crystal works incorporated gold decoration from 1890 and platinum from 1998.

Saint Louis, décoration à l’or

Uncompromising on the quality of its pieces, the crystal works check all the pieces that come out of its factory. Up to one in two pieces is refused for lack of quality.

The Saint Louis manufacture is also known for its mastery of crystal or sulphide paper presses, which began in 1845, in particular with the millefiori decoration as well as for its opaline creations which began at the same time and reached their peak between 1850 and 1860. .

Since 1995, the crystal factory has been part of the Hermès group and calls on many contemporary artists to diversify its collections.

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