The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2020 - Issue 27

bite lifestyle Jada Brookes is fascinated by the stunning world of Baccarat crystals, that furnish the home perfectly and bring joys of delight, fun, and excitement into people’s lives at K ing Louis XV of France may have made some poor choices during his 42-year-reign in politics and the influence of his lovers in his kingdom; however, one thing he did right was giving the Bishop of Metz, Louis-Joseph de Laval-Montmorency, permission to establish a glassworks company in the town of Baccarat in the Lorraine region, east of France in 1764. In the beginning, Baccarat Glass produced window panes, mirrors, and stemware until 1816 when the first crystal oven went into operation. During the 19th-century, Baccarat Glass went through a cou- ple of name changes; firstly Voneche-Baccarat in 1815 when Voneche owner, Aime-Gabriel D’Artigues, purchased the com- pany. His own glassworks company found itself outside the new French frontier in the newly created country of Belgium and he wanted to re-establish his business in France, as well as continue to serve French customers without paying heavy import taxes. Voneche-Baccarat focused on creating high-quality lead-crystal glass. Seven years later, the business was sold again and became Com- pagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat (Company of the Crystal- ware from Baccarat). With Baccarat developing many new tech- niques in the making of the finest crystal glass over hundreds of years, they became famous for their crystal paperweights, crystal glass tableware, 19th-century coloured lead crystal glass, beautiful decanters and bottles, and superb lead crystal sculp- tures of animals and birds. For over 250 years, transforming matter into an object of desire has been the calling and talent of Baccarat artisans. It takes 15 years for an artisan to master the techniques and tap into the