Antique French Opaline Glass Box Casket Hand Painted Birds Gilt Bronze Ormolu

Description

A gorgeous antique mid- 19th century French opaline glass casket. Featuring unique serpentine shaping with indented corners. The box is of luminous white opaline glass painted throughout in a lovely pompadour pink color with gilt floral form accents. A charming vignette adorns the lid, beautifully hand painted with bright colors and fine details. Depicting a scene of two colorful birds on a cluster of wild flowers and roses, with a charming pastoral backdrop. Accented further by ornate gilt ormolu hinged mounts, with a pair of articulated twisted loop handles accentuating the sides. Centered by an exquisite floral form escutcheon lock plate. Working locking mechanism and key. Attributed to Baccarat, ca. 1850. An old unsigned Baccarat, as was typical of the notable cristallerie marked their wares with a paper label from 1896 onwards (which often times got lost or worn with time). Not until 1936 did the firm permanently marked their pieces with an acid etched emblem. As was characteristic of major glass houses of the period, matching numbers or letters, in this case a letter E, are painted on the interior lid & interior base of the box to indicate corresponding pieces to aid in the assembly after decorating, cutting and so forth; a common feature of Baccarat to number matching set pieces. These early boxes were once intended to house precious sugar and tea under lock and key, once imported from afar and were costly commodities affordable to the wealthy and nobility of the period. Such boxes or caddies were highly decorative, easily displayable on a table or viewable in a cabinet, and were a sign of one's wealth. Today, they are highly collectible decorative objects, perfect to set among a grouping of glass boxes or opalines and ideal for any table for your guests to admire. Similar Baccarat boxes and colorfully painted white opalines can be found in the book Les Opalines by Christine Vincendean. In overall good condition with no chips or cracks. Some general wear to the painted decoration. Measures 6 3/8" length x 4 3/4" width x 5" height.

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