In 1828, King Charles X of France made an official visit to Lorraine . He toured an industrial exposition in Metz, in which the glass factory of Saint-Louis took part, and he arrived in Baccarat on September 12. There, the royal family was reportedly presented with a ewer, two large Medici vases, and two services for tea and water. This visit took place fewer than ten years after the Cristalleries de Baccarat had been substantially reformed to produce the type of products for which it is famous today: heavy, clear, cut crystal. Our vase, which was probably made in connection with the king's visit, or soon thereafter, is cut in a variety of shapes, and mounted in a formidable set of ormolu handles, rim, and foot, which still reflect the Empire style of the Napoleonic era. Most formidable, however, is the brilliantly enameled coat of arms of the Bourbon kings of France on the center of the vase, as it was restored in 1814: the arms of France (three lilies) and Navarre (chain) encircled with the combined royal orders of Saint-Michael (angel) and of the Holy Spirit (dove), crowned with the closed royal crown and adorned with a wreath of white lilies. This enamel work must have been accomplished by jeweler and goldsmith Jean-Alexandre Paris (1781 – 1850), who specialized in producing enameled medals and decorations, and who invented, in about 1816, the method of incrustating his enamels in colorless glass.