Fabulous Rare Antique 1847 Miniature 2 Baccarat Close Millefiori Paperweight

Here for your consideration is a stunning masterpiece. An extremely rare, Baccarat, 1847, miniature 2 close patterned millefiori paperweight. This magnificent miniature paperweight is encircled by fabulous gridel, silhouette and animal canes, depicting a horse, a dog, a goat, and a white monkey, beautifully enhanced with an assortment of star, whorl, trefoil, quatrefoil, honeycomb, fortress/castle and flower canes, complete with central oblong date cane B1847. Condition: This is in fabulous original condition, with no bruises, chips, fleabites or scratches to its dome. (A real testament to its previous owner).

Its certainly one of the best weve seen. It has a polished concave base with some minute surface scratching, commensurate with it's 169 years of age, but nothing unusual.

Please note, this miniature close packed, millefiori baccarat paperweight is picking up some white light reflection! The La Compagnie des Cristalleries Baccarat is situated at Baccarat in Lorraine, and was founded in the year 1764. It became France's major glass-making company by the year 1822. The evolution of glass paperweights occurred during the mid-19th century in France, transforming these everyday objects into desirable works of art. Inspired by Italian glass workers in Murano, French glass factories began to explore new techniques in the 1840s.

Their experimental work produced striking decorative motifs, all encased in glass spheres that magnified the intricate detail of the pieces. Gabriel d'Artigues, the owner and director of Baccarat, was a notable and gifted glass artisan. Under his guidance the factory produced everything from lighting fixtures to inkwells and paperweights.

Paperweights were of course their most famous products. Some of the finest antique paperweights can be traced back to the Baccarat factory. Baccarat became famous for making lead crystal paperweights based on the Italian millefiori pattern ('millefiori' can be loosely translated as'a thousand flowers').

By 1846, Baccarat had perfected the design of millefiori paperweights, often incorporating animal silhouette canes and making perimeter borders of canes around a central flower, fruit, or animal design in the crystal paperweight. Canes were present in both floral and star shapes, but Baccarat also came up with the'silhouette cane'. This referred to a silhouette of a person or an animal that appeared in the center of the cane. Many paperweights had a combination of floral, star-shaped and silhouette canes. Silhouette canes came handy in outlining the central design of the paperweight, whether it was a flower or piece of fruit. Arrows were also another common cane design in the paperweights and came in many different colours. These are the main trade mark patterns frequently found in Baccarat millefiori paperweights. Like most Italian paperweights, close-knit concentric circles were made from the canes to form a plethora of designs in the Baccarat paperweights.

Baccarat paperweights exist in the magnum size (4" approx in diameter), the regular size (3" approx in diameter), and the miniature size (2 approx in diameter). While the regular sized paperweights are very rare, the miniatures are extremely uncommon and highly prized! Height: 1.3 inches or 3.4 cm. Diameter: 2 inches or 5 cm.

Weight: 5.8 oz or 164 grams. As you're probably already aware Baccarat miniature paperweights are the rarest and most sought-after of all the Baccarat paperweights. You put this magnificent paperweight up to the light and you can see through the canes, it's really quite spectacular.

This is only going to continue to become evermore desirable and appreciate in value! This extremely rare miniature Baccarat paperweight would make a superb gift. Please note, all my international postal charges are only estimates and will be confirmed and altered up or down when I know the destination to where, items are being sent.

Please feel free to look at my other items. The item "Fabulous Rare Antique 1847 Miniature 2 Baccarat Close Millefiori Paperweight" is in sale since Wednesday, March 21, 2018.

This item is in the category "Pottery, Porcelain & Glass\Glass\Art Glass\French\Baccarat". The seller is "chaseleyantiques" and is located in Staffordshire. This item can be shipped worldwide.

Country of Origin: france
Glassware Era: Victorian (1840-1900)
Object Type: paperweight
Glassware Type: millefiori
Main Colour: multi
Type of Glass: miniature