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Schneider, Le Verre Français

History

The two brothers Charles and Ernst Schneider both worked for the factory Daum in Nancy in the beginning of the 20th century. There they learned the technique of blowing and etching glass.

In 1913, just before the First World War, they established their own factory in Epinay sur Seine and started tot develop a new style with more firm lines and more clear colors. The vases of the Schneider factory already had more characteristics of Art Deco than of Art Nouveau. They introduced new shapes and new colours to the world of glassmaking, which was dominated at the time by Daum and Gallé.

Le Verre Français

They developed two production lines in the glass factory with two different styles: glass with the signature “Le Verre Français” and the other line with only the signature “Schneider”.

The Le Verre Français line made cameo glass, that consisted of several layers of etched glass. The motifs of the decorations were inspired by nature, but were rendered in a more abstract manner. Therefore, these glass objects differ greatly from the style of the glass from the Gallé or Daum factories.

They created their own specific style that you can recognise from the very contrasting colours on the glass objects. Note, for example, the contrast between orange and yellow on many pieces from the Schneider-Le Verre Français factory. Therefore, the colours nowadays make a more modern impression and the art objects from the Schneider works can easily be placed in a completely modern interior.

The vases of the line Le Verre Français were produced in larger numbers than the art objects of the other line of this factory. The glass objects with only the signature “Schneider” are rarer and harder to find and therefore rather expensive.

Signatures and Originality

There are different signatures: “Le Verre Français” on the foot of the vase and “Charder” (=Charles Schneider) in the middle of the vase. Sometimes both signatures are represented on the vase.

In the early vases from the factory, there is no signature at all or a small glass rod fused into the glass object with the three colours of the French flag, the so-called “Berlingot flag”. If a vase has a small Berlingot flag, it is an early vase made just after the First World War.
For the correct patterns and signatures, see the book: Charles Schneider, Le Verre Français – Charder Schneider by Marie-Christine Joulin and Gerold Maier, Augsburg, 2004.

There are very good copies on the market today and the forgers are getting better and better. You can only recognise the originals by looking at the details and also the mistakes.
You cannot recognise the forgeries or the originals, by looking at the signature only.

Schneider

The glass of this line of the factory also has clear contrasting colours. But just not representing the scenery of the nature is the main difference with the line of Le Verre Français.
The signature of the name Schneider is usually sandblasted and underlined. The line started from the last character. This sandblasted name is often difficult to read, it depends on how the light falls upon it.

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