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Amalric Walter and Henri Bergé Small "Langouste" Pâte de Verre Paperweight

$3,750

This French Art Nouveau pâte de verre paperweight (or "Presse Papiers") by Amalric Walter and Henri Bergé is an earlier, and smaller version of a series of "Langouste" paperweights from the duo. The paperweight has a reddish-brown, crimson-spotted "Langouste," or spiny lobster, resting resolutely on a sculpted pâte de verre base of swirling yellows and greens, as if it were a rock carpeted in fine algae, swayed by the sea. The lovely detail in the posturing of the creature, the careful arrangement of its legs and tail, suggest that it is bracing itself against the pull of an invisible tide.

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  • Curator's Notes

Item #: P-18460
Artist: Amalric Walter and Henri Bergé
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 2.25" height, 4.25" width, 2" depth
Materials: Pâte de verre glass
Literature: Similar paperweight pictured in Amalric Walter (1870-1959), by Keith Cummings, Kingswinford: Broadfield House Glass Museum, 2006, p. 49, cat. no 77c

Pâte-de-verre existed in ancient Egypt and was discussed by Pliny the Elder but its technique was lost for nearly 2,000 years until Walter and other glass artists unlocked the secret of its formula.
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