Paperweight c. 1845 - 1860

This 19th-century paperweight, created by the Compagnie de Saint Louis, is a beautiful example of millefiori glasswork. The piece features a central bouquet of flowers encased in a sphere of clear glass with a red and white patterned rim. Millefiori, meaning "thousand flowers" in Italian, is a technique where colorful glass rods are fused together to create intricate patterns. The technique was popular in the 19th century and resulted in beautiful decorative objects like this paperweight.