Daum Ice Bucket

A terrific mid century Champagne bucket/wine cooler by Daum made of heavy lead crystal in flowing shapes. Made by the glassworks of Cristalleries de Vannes-le-Châtel and marked on the base "Daum France" with the Cross of Lorraine in between.

Daum is a crystal manufacturer that has always been based in and around Nancy, in the Eastern part of France; its main manufacture locations are still in Nancy and the nearby village of Vannes-le-Châtel. Founded in 1878 by Jean Daum, it was his sons, Auguste Daum and Antonin Daum, that moved the company on to become one of the major forces in the Art Nouveau movement. During the Universal Exhibition of 1900 Daum was awarded a ‘Grand Prix’ medal and it was at this time Daum became the leaders in the field of decorative glass. In 1906 Daum revived pâte de verre (glass paste), an ancient Egyptian method of glass casting, developing the method so that by the 1930s Daum's window panels used pâte de verre for richness instead of leaded or painted glass. Currently Daum is the only commercial crystal manufacturer employing the pâte de verre (glass paste) process for art glass and crystal sculptures, a technique in which crushed glass is packed into a refractory mould and then fused in a kiln.

After the Second World War, Daum turned to heavy crystal, colourless and shaped into figures and vessels. Their glass was very high quality, and their art emphasised the flowing qualities of clear lead crystal. On the whole they did not incorporate cutting, engraving, or any other form of surface decoration. This kind of glass was made for some 25 years, until the 1970s. To this day, all Daum’s pieces are still handmade by its skilled employees.

Dimensions: 23 cm diameter (at the top) and 25 cm tall.