Pair Of “clair De Lune” Vases Attr. To Baccarat And E. Rousseau, France, Circa 1880

Beautiful pair of blue-tinted crystal “rouleau” vases decorated with Japanese-style enameled decoration representing a yellow full moon reflecting a tree with flowering branches, surrounded by small stylized flowers. The neck is enhanced with gold. The vases are inserted into a gilt bronze mount decorated with cherry blossom branches, typical of the Baccarat Manufacture.

This pair of vases presents the “Clair de lune” model, produced by the Baccarat Manufacture between 1875 and 1890 based on a model designed by Eugène Rousseau (1827-1890).

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.  In all reports one can read about the « perfection of the material and of its cut ». To keep its wealthy clientele, among which the Royal family, Baccarat must discover new styles and decors as well as new material.

Eugène Rousseau (1827-1890) Parisian merchant-editor, established himself in 1855 as a merchant specializing in porcelain and earthenware at n°43 rue Coquillière in Paris. He became interested in glass later in his career, glass a little later in his career, inspired by Japanese motifs. He was interested in the innovative techniques of his contemporaries and asked Marc-Louis Solon, decorator at the Sèvres factory, to create works called “pâtes rapportées”, which Solon signed under the pseudonym “Milès.” The “pâtes rapportées” technique (or paste-on-paste) was innovative at the time and consisted of applying liquid paste to a raw vase to create relief patterns. In 1867, Eugène Rousseau commissioned Félix Bracquemond to create a porcelain service inspired by Hokusai, to be presented at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. The order for the two hundred pieces was placed with the Lebeuf, Milliet et Cie factory located in Creil and Montereau and was a great success, as a result of which Japanese aesthetics would henceforth influence Rousseau’s production. In 1871, he worked with Henri Lambert who created a Japanese-style Boucheron service, exhibited at the Union Centrale in 1874. In 1884, he was the first to exhibit crackled glass at the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, using a 16th-century Venetian technique. He worked extensively with the glassmakers Appert Frères, based in Clichy, who made some of his finest pieces. Recognized in the Parisian art world, he was a member of the Central Union of Decorative Arts from its creation in 1862, and received the Knight’s Cross of the Légion d’Honneur on July 25, 1885. At the end of his career, he associated with Ernest-Baptiste Léveillé, who was his student. Léveillé bought his workshop on Rue Coquillière in 1885 and continued the business under the name “Maison Rousseau et Léveillé réunies” until 1890.