French Manufacturers - Saint Louis

Drawing of Saint Louis Glass Factory Contemporary View, Drawing by Sue Huitt

In 1767 in St. Louis-les-Bitche, in the Lorraine area of France, the Cristallerie de St. Louis was authorized by King Louis XV to be established on a site at which glassworks had existed since 1469, although destroyed during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). In 1782, they were manufacturing high quality crystal similar to that being made in England. By the 1800s Saint Louis was also producing pressed glass. In 1829 it dropped its plain glass line to concentrate on crystal and fine glassware.

Lampworked Pink Dahlia Saint Louis, circa 1845-55

In 1845 they introduced paperweights, which were very popular through 1860. The last dated weight was made in 1867. Small, relatively inexpensive items related to letter writing, smoking, and drinking were better sellers than expensive crystal during economic hard times of the late 1840s. St. Louis produced millefiori, lampworked, and sulphide paperweights.