Pair of soapy opaline vases, Paris circa 1820

Beautiful pair of Medici-shaped vases in milky opaline*.
Rare model decorated with blue reserves adorned with friezes of palmettes and lotus flowers in the antique style.
The friezes, the pedestals and the edges enriched with gold nets.

Very good state of conservation.

The decoration attributable to Jean Baptiste Desvignes (active in Paris between 1817 and 1826).*

Paris, Restoration period around 1820.

Dimensions:

Height :

The word "opaline" was born only at the beginning of our century. Originally it was called "opal crystal". The same name is given to the object and to the material that composes it; an artificial, opaque, colored crystal, first named "opal crystal" because of its appearance close to the precious stone (the opal). It was in Venice that the first colored opalines appeared in the 16th century, obtained by adding minerals.
Several shades are possible, including the milky white opaline or "soap bubble" of our vases, which is obtained by adding oxide. of tin.
*Jean-Baptiste Desvignes was an active decorator in Paris from 1817 to 1826. He was a painter, gilder on porcelain and on crystals. In 1817, he filed a patent for a process of gilding and painting on crystal without cooking or incrustation in the crystal. Its decorations are characteristic because they favor a certain repetition of floral motifs.