CHARLES X PERIOD CRYSTAL CLOCK WITH A FLUTE PLAYER IN BRONZE GILT WITH MERCURY

A Restoration-period clock in very finely cut crystal with a chased and gilded bronze frame. A flute player stands to the right of the movement, which is signed Le Roy in Paris and surmounted by a sucker with plant decoration. The rise of French crystal dates back to the 19th century. Produced in abundance thanks to advances in chemistry and machinery, it was to become a luxury item without ceasing to be widespread. In the 19th century, French crystal production was in the hands of four glassworks: the royal glassworks of Saint Louis, founded in 1767 in Muntzthal, was the first to discover the secrets of crystal manufacture by sending observers to England. From then on, Saint-Louis specialized in luxury goblets, before turning its attention to opal crystal. Vonèche, founded in 1778 near Liège, was bought out in 1802 by Aimé-Gabriel d'Artigues, nephew of Saint-Louis' director. When the treaties of 1815 removed Vonèche from French territory, d'Atrtigues bought the Saint-Anne glassworks near Baccarat. Then, in 1822, the Baccarat crystal works absorbed the Trelon glassworks in the north of France, which at the time produced only window glass. The man who gave Baccarat crystals their start was a scientist and glass technician, as well as a very good administrator: J-B Toussaint, who made life difficult for French and foreign competitors until his death in 1858. Among these competitors, the Le Creusot factory had benefited from government encouragement to find the secret of colored crystals from England. The Manufacture du Creusot, still known as Montcenis, was a revival of the Manufacture de la Reine founded in Sèvres in 1783 by Lambert and Boyer. In 1785, the government decided to transfer the factory to Le Creusot, following poor management. Despite a number of successes, notably in yellow and turquoise opal crystals, Le Creusot fell back into financial difficulties and, in 1832, Baccarat and Saint-Louis agreed to buy back the factory and had the furnaces shut down. Two other factories were founded under the Restoration: Choisy-le-Roi in 1821 and Bercy in 1827. In 1832, a commercial agreement between Baccarat and Saint-Louis was extended to include the Choisy-le-Roi and Bercy factories, which had proven themselves through excellent production. Charles X period, Circa: 1825