Crystal Claret Ewer, Wheel-Engraved Game Frieze, Possibly Val Saint-Lambert

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Late 19th–early 20th century Continental crystal claret ewer with engraved game frieze, probably Val Saint-Lambert (Belgium) or North Bohemian, circa … Read more Late 19th–early 20th century Continental crystal claret ewer with engraved game frieze, probably Val Saint-Lambert (Belgium) or North Bohemian, circa 1885–1905

A tall, elegant ewer-form decanter in heavy lead crystal, the ovoid body raised on a square, canted pedestal foot deeply ray-cut on the underside and finished with a broad, polished pontil. The lower half of the body is worked in a crisp Russian cutting (closely spaced diamond-point diaper with high, brilliant facets), above which runs a wide, matte wheel-engraved frieze of game in landscape: stag and doe among conifers and ferns alternating with wading birds in reeds, all framed by a narrow beaded border. The long neck is plain and optically clear, rising to a pinched pouring lip; an applied reeded strap handle is notched and thumb-rested at the shoulder. The original lapidary stopper is spire-form with a faceted point and a band of strawberry-diamond cutting, fitting the ground neck precisely.

Attribution and notes on manufacture. The combination of a square canted foot, brilliant Russian cutting to the lower body, and a continuous wheel-engraved hunting/woodland band is most consistent with late-19th-century Continental luxury glass, made for wine or claret service. Two centers produced this vocabulary at a very high level: Val Saint-Lambert in Belgium and the North Bohemian houses at Haida/Steinschönau (today Nový Bor/Kamenický Šenov). The weight and clarity of the crystal, the specific square pedestal foot, and the idiom of wildlife engraving point slightly toward Val Saint-Lambert; closely related Belgian pieces carry identical Russian cutting beneath landscape friezes and similarly profiled stoppers. North Bohemian firms (Meyr’s Neffe, Harrach, and Steinschönau engravers) also executed comparable woodland scenes and should remain in consideration if Belgian authorship cannot be confirmed. The absence of an acid-etched factory mark on the foot is compatible with a pre-1914 date for either school.

Measurements: approximately 17.5 inches high; 5.25 inches wide. See less