Compagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat
Tumbler with Portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette

Public Domain

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MakerAttributed to Compagnie des Cristalleries de BaccaratFrench, established 1764

AfterPortrait after François Augustin CaunoisFrench, 1787–1859

CultureFrench

Titles

Tumbler with Portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette

Datec. 1825–1835

Probable placeBaccarat, France

MediumLead glass with sulphide portrait

Dimensions3 7/8 × 3 1/8 in. diameter (9.8 × 7.9 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Mr. Ralph O'Connor in honor of William S. Kilroy

Object numberB.89.13

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Washington Hall

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

GLASS

Description

Among the heroes of the American Revolution, only the name of George Washington ranks above that of Marquis de Lafayette. This gallant Frenchman generously placed his life and his fortune at the disposal of the American colonists. This glass tumbler encloses a sulphide portrait of Lafayette that was taken from a bronze medal struck in 1824 by François Augustin Caunois in France for distribution in this country during Lafayette’s visit here in 1824 and 1825. A sulphide is a small ornamental object of white porcelain-like material, made to be encased in glass.

Provenance[W. M. Schwind, Jr. Antiques and Fine Art, Yarmouth, Maine]; purchased by MFAH, 1989.
Exhibition History"Radicals and Revolutionaries: America's Founding Fathers," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 10–May 28, 2018.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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