Saint-Louis Versailles Vase

The Saint-Louis Versailles Vase is the emblem of the house — the single object that best represents what Saint-Louis can do when it brings its full mastery to bear on one form. Born in 1921 to commemorate the treaty that ended the First World War, it was named for the Palace where that peace was signed and for the era of the Sun King. In 1950 it acquired a square, star-cut foot and assumed the form it holds today: diamond and flat-rib cuts inspired by the ornamental urns in the Garden of Versailles, in a profile that is the purest expression of the French decorative style. No less than seven to eight weeks of work are required to produce the largest model. It has become, without rival, the most iconic vase in the Saint-Louis portfolio.

The Versailles Vase is produced at the Cristallerie Saint-Louis in Lorraine by the house’s most experienced glassblowers and cutters. The scale and complexity of the piece — its broad diamond cuts, its flat-rib sections, its precise star-cut base — demands exceptional skill at every stage of production, and the weeks required to complete a single large vase reflect the density of intervention involved. It is at once a functional vase and a technical tour de force.

The Versailles Vase stands at the center of the Saint-Louis decorative repertoire in the same way the Palace of Versailles stands at the center of French history: as the definitive expression of a tradition at its peak. It inspired the Quadrille collection of Mathieu Bassée on its 65th anniversary, and it has anchored the Saint-Louis vase range for over a century. Established in 1586, Saint-Louis stands as Europe’s oldest crystal manufacturer, holding the title of Royal Cristallerie since 1781.