Saint-Louis Medicis Medium Vase

The Saint-Louis Medicis Medium Vase is an imposing and grandiose clear crystal vase in the Medicis urn form — a wide, rounded body covered in deep diamond-point cuts, with a neck finished in flat sides. The Medicis form is one of the most enduring in the decorative arts, inspired by the ancient Florentine marble urns that entered French royal taste during the 17th and 18th centuries. At Saint-Louis, it is executed in leaded crystal with hand-cut diamonds that give the belly of the vase a surface of extraordinary visual richness, catching and scattering light at every angle. Standing 300mm tall, it works as a commanding standalone object as much as a vessel for generous floral arrangements.

The Medicis vase is mouth-blown and hand-cut at the Cristallerie Saint-Louis in Lorraine. The deep diamond-point cuts that cover the body are applied by hand in the cold atelier, each requiring precise control to achieve the consistency and density of coverage that the Medicis demands. The alternating flat sides of the neck provide a visual counterpoint to the richly cut belly, and the combination of the two surface treatments makes the vase among the most technically ambitious in the Saint-Louis decorative range.

The Medicis belongs to Saint-Louis’s lineage of classically inspired prestige vases — pieces that honor the great traditions of French decorative art in crystal. Grandiose in form and demanding in execution, it stands as one of the house’s most distinguished expressions of the art of the cutter. Established in 1586, Saint-Louis stands as Europe’s oldest crystal manufacturer, holding the title of Royal Cristallerie since 1781.