Monumental Clear Cut-Glass Covered Compote

Compotes, known in French as coupes à fruits were a mainstay in the line of tablewares produced by La Cristallerie de Vonêche. Offered in a variety of sizes and decorative patterns and with or without a foot, the cut decoration on the present compote features a pattern of repeated diamond points with flat surfaces that very frequently appeared on their stemware, tableware, and presentation pieces (see, for example, Norbert Bastin and Jacques Toussaint, Verrières et Cristalleries Namuroises Du XVIIIe Siecle a Nos Jours, exhib. cat. [Musee de Groesbeeck-de Croix, Namur, Belgium, 1985], pp. 68, fig. 114; 70, fig. 120; 115, fig. 262). This piece, however, stands apart from the lionshare of the compotes produced at Vonêche because of its unusually large scale.

La Cristallerie de Vonêche was actively producing glass from 1802 until 1830. Aimé Gabriel d’Artigues (1773-1848), the former Director of La Cristallerie Saint-Louis-lez-Biche, purchased La Verriere Sainte-Anne on June 1, 1802. He renovated and expanded the current premises to allow the production of pane glass, tableware, and presentation pieces, which had been largely abandoned by Sainte-Anne prior to their close earlier in 1802. In hopes of perfecting the science of producing the most beautiful glass products for 50 to 70% less money than what was currently being made, Vonêche actively experimented with lead, and other minerals. By 1810, Vonêche employed 600 to 700 workers. The fall of the French Empire just a few years later, however, took away a significant amount of their business from France, and they were forced to downsize.

Despite this turn of events, Vonêche remained a top producer of glass, continually attracting high level innovators in the development of the techniques of glass production to their staff. In 1830, the Belgian revolution presented serious economic challenges, and La Cristallerie de Vonêche was forced to close in December of that year. The lionshare of the staff moved to Namur, Liège, and Maastricht, and all of the materials and equipment at the factory were taken over by L. Zoude of Namur.

Condition: Perfect, except for a very small chip on the inside rim of the cover, which has been expertly and invisibly repaired.