Art Of The Day Weekly
#369 - from 18 December 2014 to 7 January 2015
Baccarat XXL
At the Universal Exhibition in Paris, in 1878, Baccarat presented a crystal temple 4.70mt tall. In 1896, one third of its two thousand employees worked full time to fill the Russian orders: the Czar’s service, the Czarina’s candelabra, the glasses with the coat of arms of prince Demidoff. At the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in 1925, the Jets d’eau chandelier, with 156 lights, captivated the visitors. The Harcourt service, of which ten thousand glasses are manufactured each year, has been manufactured every year since 1841. The history of this crystal industry in the Lorraine region, which celebrates its 250th anniversary with a beautiful exhibition at the Petit Palais, until 4 January 2015, is out of proportion with anything else. The book that accompanies the exhibition was also chosen out of standards: a format of 38 centimeters, laid out un a way that brings back to memory the spirit of the sales catalogues of the past: luxury always and foremost.
• Baccarat, la légende du cristal, Paris Musées, 2014, 128 p., €35.
