Baccarat - crystallo-ceramics with Napoleon in profile as Caesar - Brouwet collection - Empire, circa 1810

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Crystal and cameo with Napoleon's profile
Crystal and cameo
Dimensions: D. 8.5 (cm.)
Baccarat, circa 1810

Very fine early crystal-ceramics by the Manufacture de Baccarat, from the Empire period. The molded crystal is decorated with fans, rosettes and pearls. The bottom is guilloché with diamonds. We offer for sale several of these pieces from the former Emile Brouwet collection, which bear witness to the expertise of French crystal makers in the early 19th century.

Emile Brouwet, collector of Napoleonic memorabilia
Belgian by birth, he was one of the administrators of Malmaison. Thanks to his personal fortune, he built up the largest collection of autographs ever assembled from the Napoleonic period, which he supplemented with historical objects and memorabilia from the Empire. Most of his collection was dispersed in three sales in 1934 and 1935 at Hôtel Drouot, and after some difficulties with the French National Archives, a fourth sale was organized in 1937 in London.

An important part of his collection was exhibited at the Musée Napoléon in Digne, a town that symbolized the "flight of the eagle" during the Hundred Days, and where the collector created a museum to display objects evoking memories of Napoleon and the imperial family. Inaugurated in July 1932, the Musée de Digne closed its doors in 1939. While most of the collection remained in the Brouwet family, a few objects were transferred to the Musée de l'Armée in Brussels at the same time, where they are still preserved today.

The origins of crystal-ceramics in the early 19th century
The rapid development of the crystal manufactures (Saint-Louis, Montcenis and Baccarat) was made possible by a favorable economic climate and a supply of top-quality raw crystal, as evidenced by certain exchanges with the Vonêche manufactory.
In the space of two decades, production capacity became absolutely enormous, and the range of objects produced became even more diversified.
At the same time, the European neoclassical trend was evident in the mass distribution of copies of antique cameos, which were initially presented framed and were very popular.
Saint Amand is credited with the first attempts to include cookie cameos in crystal. This know-how was twofold, since it involved not only mastering cameo carving, but also mastering the composition of cookie pastes and their firing. It takes around ten years to produce successful pieces. Most of them feature the effigies of influential contemporary figures: the Emperor, his wife, Louis XVIII, the Comte d'Artois, the Duc de Berry, his wife or the Duchesse d'Angoulême.

Condition report: very slight chips

Ref: R7B4LKF3F3