CIRCA 1820-30

The fashion for this type of jewelled and ormolu-mounted cut-glass vase was widespread in Paris and throughout Northern Europe in the early nineteenth century. Interestingly, related examples described as being of 'Russian Stone', were designed and produced under the direction of I. A. Ivanov, director of the Imperial glass works from 1815 to 1848 ('St. Petersburg um 1800: Ein goldenes Zeitalter des russischen Zarenreichs; Meisterwerke und autentische Zeugnisse der Zeit aus der Staatlichen Ermitage', Leningrad, Exh. Cat., 1990, cat. no. 344, illustrated p. 398). This fashion also spread to England, and collectors such as George Byng (d. 1847)

The fashion for these richly-mounted glass items was also adopted by English collectors, and George Byng (d. 1847) of Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire, one of the foremost francophile amateurs of the 19th Century, purchased a related but smaller pair, which were sold, Christie's London, 9 June 2005, lot 130.