A FRENCH 'JAPONISME' ORMOLU-MOUNTED CUT AND ETCHED-GLASS VASE

This vase is signed by the marchand-éditeur and boutique L'Escalier de Cristal, named after the crystal staircase it housed, who supplied furniture, works of art and all manner of objets de luxe including vases, lighting, furniture, clocks and bibelot from showrooms in rue Auber, in the fashionable area of L'Opéra. Acquired in 1839 by M. Lahoche, the firm passed to his son-in-law, Emile Pannier, around 1864-66. In 1885, Georges and Henry Pannier succeeded their father and are recorded to have bought in 1890 design sketches from the collection of the late Édouard Lièvre: celebrated designer in ‘le style japonais et chinois’.

Compare a glass vase also etched with an eagle and attributed to Baccarat, fronting an etagere cabinet in the Corning Museum of Glass, New York (number 79.3.77). The eagle is a popular and symbolic motif in Japanese art, depictions of which were disseminated in the West by the publication of volumes of woodblock prints and the Japanese displays at the international exhibitions.