Paperweight c. 1848 - 1855

This glass paperweight was made by the Baccarat Glassworks. It has a flower inside, with a ring of smaller flowers around the edge. The glassworks was founded in 1764 in the village of Baccarat, France, with royal approval from Louis XV. Originally, they made window panes and tableware. They became famous for their paperweights in the 1840s, at a time when glassmaking was becoming industrialized and the middle classes were growing and hungry for decorative objects. The flower inside is very skillfully made. This glass paperweight embodies the meeting of art, industry, and commerce in 19th-century France. It could only have been made at a particular time and place. To understand these objects better, one can consult archives and museum collections. The meaning of art is contingent on its social and institutional context.