An important pair of cut crystal drageur cups with two handles adorned with chased and gilt bronze pastilles. Charles X period Height 94 cm - Width: 52 cm Attributed to the Manufacure royale du Creusot Coal mining in Montcenis from 1769 onwards led to the creation of the Royal Foundry at Le Creusot in 1781. At the same time, the fashion for lead crystal, which had originated in England, was spreading throughout the European courts. Named the Manufacture Royale des Cristaux et Émaux de la Reine Marie-Antoinette, the new factory quickly took off. It produced ordinary glass and, above all, luxury crystal products. The company specialised in opalines (or opal crystal), objects made of opaque crystal tinted in the mass, and inclusions, small objects with an inlaid decorative ceramic motif. At the time, customers lived in France and Europe, and even in Russia and America. In the early 1830s, the Le Creusot crystal works ran into difficulties and was eventually sold by its owners. In 1832, it was bought by Baccarat and Saint-Louis, who decided to repatriate all production to eastern France.