Baccarat, Set of candy dishes and cups, France, Circa 1870

Beautiful crystal sweetmeat dish and cup set consisting of nine matching pieces. It is composed of a pair of large covered sweetmeat dishes, one large coupe, and six small individual coupes. Each piece is cut with flat ribs and festoons, the set is supported by a baluster-shaped stem, and the whole rests on a canted base.

(This set is similar to the ovolo models listed in the 1840 Launay-Hautin catalog, a firm that distributed Baccarat and Saint-Louis crystal).

BIOGRAPHY

The famous crystal manufacture of Baccarat, that dates back to the 18th century, was awarded its first medal in 1823, during the “Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie” for the “brilliance and the sharpness of its crystal” and became then the most renowned French “cristallerie”. Baccarat was undoubtedly the only French manufacture, that exhibited steadily and magnificently its products at the various Universal Exhibitions, and especially between 1855 and 1867. Reports of the Universal Exhibition, from 1855 to 1867, talk about the “perfection of the material and of its cut”, considered superior of those from Bohemia or England.


Height of the large coupe: 21 cm (8,3 in); Diameter : 24 cm (9,5 in)
Height of the two sweetmeat dishes with covers: 30 cm (11,8 in); Diameter : 20,5 cm (8,1 in)
Height of the 6 small ones: 10 cm (3,9 in) ; Diameter : 10 cm (3,9 in)