Perfume bottle made of opal cristal.

Perfume bottle made of opal cristal.
Flattened globular form, with enamelled and gilt decor of bunch of flowers in oval cartouches and on a gold background. Little wears on the gold and on enamel.
Glass opalisation obtained by the adjonction of tin oxide was well known in Venice since the 16th century. Gradually opalisation gained the rest of Europa but it was in France around 1810, that it was applicated at a glass made of lead, elaborated in England at the 18th century : the cristal.
Opal cristal fashion was at its peak on 1824 but it continued during the 19th century. Material, forms, decors changed with the years; evolution orderered by the one of the decorative forms and by the technique progress of cristal industry.

Bibliography:Y. Amic, L'opaline française au XIXème siècle, Paris, 1952, ed. Gründ