French Crystal Decanter Art Nouveau Baccarat

French Michelangelo Baccarat Crystal Decanter

This beautiful old French crystal decanter bottle bears the Baccarat acid-etch mark on it’s base. Front label reads “Very Fine Liqueur Cognac J & F Martell Cordon Argent (signed Martell x f.) produce of France”. It was distributed by ‘Park & Tilford’, a US distiller since 1850.

Baccarat is known as ‘The crystal of kings’. The engraved mark on this bottle was in used from 1936 onward. Park and Tillford’s logo is found on the stopper and encircled on the back-side of the decanter. It is a bird within a crest, trademark filed on 9/14/1934. The trademarks and the trailing vine and leaf decor are acid etched onto the crystal. The decor surrounds the entire bottle. The decanter is in excellent condition with original labels. It is a full-size decanter measuring 10½” tall, 6″ wide, and 2½” thick.

We’ve seen the incredibly fancy liqueur bottle, without the labels, advertised as an aftermarket decanter. Baccarat made plenty of expensive ’empty’ decanters meant for the end-user (aftermarket) to fill with their own booze. They also made, and still make, special bottles for distillers to sell with liquor inside. The quality of the crystal for both purposes, in this case, appears to be the same. This bottle is made of mold-blown high quality crystal.

This decanter was made between 1951 and 1954 and was called “Michelangelo”,