Vibrant Vintage Daum France Pate de Verre Crystal Dish Les Figues collection, art glass, collector art glass, designer decor

This rare vintage Daum France Pate de Verre crystal dish is part of the collection called “Les Figues” (The Figs). This resplendent dish is perfect for collectors of art glass, as well as those seeking a stunning piece to enrich elegant table or home décor!

The Daum France “Les Figues” collection presents a mélange of colors using a rich harvest palette, featuring vibrant shades of green, rust, amber, plum, and purple. The intermingling of colors the Pate de Verre process creates is unique to each piece. The “Daum France” signature is etched on the bottom. This Le Figue dish is a rare find, measuring 8” long, 6 1.2” wide, and 2” high. It comes packaged in its original box.

Pate de Verre, which translates as “glass paste” is an ancient technique which can be traced back to the second millennium BC, where records have been found showing the same or similar process was used by the Mesopotamians in creating inlays for jewelry and sculptures. The process used in ancient Egypt and Rome is believed to be like methods used by the Mesopotamians.

It was towards the end of the nineteenth century that the art of pate de verre underwent a reawakening, in France. Jean Daum (1825-1885) was a central figure in reviving and further developing the pate de verre method used today. He founded the Daum crystal studio, located in Nancy, France, in 1878. The modern Pate de Verre process involves using crushed glass that is packed into a refractory mold and then put in a kiln. This process allows the various pieces and colors of glass to blend and meld together. The brilliance of the crystal and the intensity of the colors give each creation its unique character, with no two being exactly alike.

Jean Daum’s sons, Auguste Daum (1853–1909) and Antonin Daum (1864–1931), went on to oversee the business and its growth through the rapidly developing Art Nouveau period. By the 1930s, Daum’s window panels were made of pate de verre for richness instead of leaded or painted glass, and they continue to use this method today. Today, Daum is the premier commercial crystal manufacturer employing the pâte de verre process for art glass and crystal sculptures.