A Gilt-Bronze Mounted, Moulded and Etched Glass Centrepiece

By Baccarat and François-Eugène Rousseau, circa 1878

Moulded and etched to depict a flock of geese over crashing waves and the reverse depicting a rising sun, the underside with engraved signature E. Rousseau Paris, the gilt-bronze base cast with a bamboo motif

7 in (17.7 cm) high, 13 ½ in (33 cm) wide

cf. Japonisme in Decorative Arts, exh. cat., The Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, 1998, p. 152, no.161 – for an illustration of the design for this centrepiece
Dan Klein, Decorative Art 1880-1980, 1986, p.44, pl.3 – for an example of the same form and decoration with a different gilt-bronze base

The Musée Baccarat archive holds the design drawings confirming that this model was exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1878, (and Rousseau himself sat on the jury for this event). It is not known how frequently François-Eugène Rousseau collaborated with Baccarat. Alphonse-Georges Reyen had joined Rousseau's firm in 1877 as a glass carver, while one of Rousseau's pupils, Ernst-Baptiste Léveillé, joined as decorator. In 1885 he sold his workshop and retail store to his former pupil and assistant, Ernst-Baptiste Léveillé.