Lot Essay
Bernard Perrot (1619-1709) from a wellknown glassmaking family, was born in Altare. During his youth he travelled extensively with his father, Francisco Perroto, visiting amongst other towns Nevers and Liège where he worked for a short time at the Bonhomme glasshouse. In 1662 he requested permission to found a glasshouse in Orléans and authorisation was granted on 13 July 1662. In December 1666, Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIV, obtained his naturalisation and on the 7 December 1668 he was granted a special privilege to use his invention of a particular method of enamelling glass. For a detailed discussion on Bernard Perrot's life and work see Dr. Jacques Bénard et Bernard Dragesco, Bernard Perrot et Les Verreries Royales du Duché d'Orléans 1662-1754, pp. 23-32.
Considered perhaps Perrot's most important invention was his secret method of casting glass into a mould to produce relief figures, busts, medals, inscriptions and coat-of-arms. After petitioning for ten years, on 2 April 1687 he wrote a letter to the Académie des Sciences concerning this remarkable invention and was finally granted a special privilege for its manufacture on 25 September 1688.
The present medallion with its portrait conforming to medals bearing an effigy of the King of about 1680 adds a sixth to the known corpus: Musée Historique de l'Orléanais, Compagnie Saint-Gobain, a third sold in Orléans in June 1976 is now in a private collection, a fourth is in a private collection in Paris and the fifth was recently acquired by the Louvre. Bernard Dragesco has recently suggested that these important examples of Perrot's cast glass method were probably made during those ten years whilst he was attempting to obtain a licence, for presentation to important personages as a means of advertising his new and unique process. Dragesco has also drawn attention to there being two versions of the King's portrait, a more youthful likeness and the King somewhat older; this medallion would appear to be the younger version of the King.
Considered perhaps Perrot's most important invention was his secret method of casting glass into a mould to produce relief figures, busts, medals, inscriptions and coat-of-arms. After petitioning for ten years, on 2 April 1687 he wrote a letter to the Académie des Sciences concerning this remarkable invention and was finally granted a special privilege for its manufacture on 25 September 1688.
The present medallion with its portrait conforming to medals bearing an effigy of the King of about 1680 adds a sixth to the known corpus: Musée Historique de l'Orléanais, Compagnie Saint-Gobain, a third sold in Orléans in June 1976 is now in a private collection, a fourth is in a private collection in Paris and the fifth was recently acquired by the Louvre. Bernard Dragesco has recently suggested that these important examples of Perrot's cast glass method were probably made during those ten years whilst he was attempting to obtain a licence, for presentation to important personages as a means of advertising his new and unique process. Dragesco has also drawn attention to there being two versions of the King's portrait, a more youthful likeness and the King somewhat older; this medallion would appear to be the younger version of the King.