Le Verre Français Chardons Vase

This rare and elegant Le Verre Français vase features Schneider Glassworks’ signature Art Deco Chardons design. Meaning thistle in French, Chardons works feature highly stylized acid-cut “thistles” among billowy rising tendrils. The present vase features layers of milky opalescent glass with a fiery purple and orange acid-cut design.

Le Verre Français was a special line of art glass designs made by Schneider Glassworks in France between 1918 and 1932. Schneider Glassworks used the Le Verre Français to identify their two or three-layered cameo glass vases, bowls, ewers, and lamps that were forged in a style that combined Art Deco and Art Nouveau features. In the Chardons design, for example, the geometrically stylized thistle blooms appear decidedly Art Deco, while the more organic forms of the twisting tendrils lean more Art Nouveau.

Charles and Ernest Schneider were a generation younger than Emile Gallé and the Daum brothers, whose glassworks were created in the same area of France. The Schneider brothers worked for Daum from the early 1900s and honed their skills as glass artisans. In 1912, the brothers left Daum to set out on their own to make original high-quality cameo vases and lamps. The Le Verre Français line was first introduced in 1918 and was sold in their own retail gallery in Paris. Charles served as the creative force in the operation while his brother Ernest took the helm of business operations. When identifying Le Verre Français items, the Schneiders sometimes adopted the portmanteau signature “Charder” — an amalgam of CHAR from Charles and DER from Schneider. The Schneiders were brilliant and versatile designers and businessmen and their superb designs appealed to an elevated clientele. They were very successful in marketing their glass to major high-prestige retail stores both in Paris and also throughout Europe and overseas in the United States.

20th century

5 1/2" high by 4 3/4" diameter