Paperweight
c. 1848–55
Medium
Glass
Dimensions
Diam.: 7.6 cm (3 in.)
Classification
paperweight
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
159337
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Technological improvements to optical scientific instruments in the mid-nineteenth century spurred a veritable obsession across Europe with identifying and classifying the natural world. Amateur botanists were eager to collect and preserve floral specimens, which they intently researched and catalogued. In response to this broad appeal, French glassmakers made paperweights that portrayed the very botanical subjects that were so enthusiastically sought. Many weights represented specimens with hor...
About the Artist
Baccarat Glassworks
Baccarat Glassworks, founded in 1764 in the Lorraine village of Baccarat, France, emerged from a royal decree by King Louis XV granting Bishop Monseigneur de Montmorency-Laval permission to establish a glass factory. Leveraging abundant local driftwood from the Vosges forest and skilled craftsmen, the works initially produced soda glass for windows, mirrors, and everyday stemware, employing thousa...