BACCARAT, Neo-Greek Crater-Shaped Vase in Doubled and Acid-Etched Crystal

Created under Louis XV’s reign, this manufactory got its international fame through its participations to the World’s Fairs all along the 19th century. The works of the manufacture were scarcely signed between 1764 and 1860, when the first labels began to appear. Fifteen years later, a seal with the name of the firm was placed on some blowing models and gilded bronze pieces. It is not until 1936 that the « BACCARAT » brand, with a carafe and two glasses, started appearing systematically on every production.

During the 1867 World’s Fair, Baccarat draw inspiration from the Bacchus cult for most of its production. We can see in our vase the influence of ancient ceramics through the shape of a crater – a piece of ceramics used by Greeks to dilute wine with water – as well as in the composition and the decoration’s subject.

The latest is engraved thanks to hydrofluoric acid, a technical mastered by the German chemist Louis Kessler in 1855, who did improve the chemical formula of the bath to make it less aggressive and thus, less dangerous. Baccarat bought the patent in 1864, allowing the manufacture to diverse its production and to reach a new level of virtuosity.

Detaching themselves from an opaque, white background, pink colored figures are represented in the spirit of ancient decorations on ceramics. We can see on one face a maenad wearing a spinning drapery, holding a drinking cup in one hand and a thyrsus in the other – a stick similar to a scepter and crowned with a pine cone, Dionysus’s attribute. On the other side, two figures are placed face to face. They might represent the divine couple of Dionysus and Ariadne : she is seated on an ancient seat, richly dressed, and addressing the half-naked young man that is also carrying a thyrsus. The two figurative scenes are framed with different patterns : palm motif, interlacing, Greek key frieze and laurel leaves. The handles have been realized afterwards : they were shaped in clear crystal, and then adorned with gold painting applied with a brush.

Even if, until today, our vase is the only one known showing this shape and this pink color, other similar models, with similar decorations, exist – in particular in blue and yellow. Moreover, this bacchanal scene on an opaque white background has been applied on other pieces produced by the firm, that can be seen in museums’ collections, such as the Corning Museum of Glass, the Chrysler Museum of Norfolk, the Musée d’Orsay or the Petit Palais.