Stefano Ricci SR Octagonal Ashtray — Crystal Glass Paisley

Stefano Ricci SR Octagonal Ashtray — Crystal Glass Paisley

Crystal glass is a different proposition from porcelain as a base for decorative work. Porcelain is opaque — the design sits on a dense white ground, and the relationship between pattern and background is a relationship between color and color. Crystal is transparent — the design exists in a material that carries light through itself, and the relationship between the engraved or etched motif and the body of the piece is a relationship between surface and depth. The paisley motif on transparent crystal glass has a quality that the same motif on porcelain does not: the design exists in three dimensions, caught in the thickness of the glass, visible from multiple angles, and changing with the angle of the light source.

The Paisley motif — the boteh form that has traveled through Persian court textiles, Mughal workshops, Kashmiri shawl-weaving, and two centuries of European decorative manufacture — finds in crystal glass a material that treats it as a dimensional object rather than a flat pattern. Each element of the paisley has depth: the curved teardrop form is present in the glass itself, not merely on its surface.

Transparent Crystal Glass

The ashtray body is transparent crystal glass — clear, with the optical density and weight that distinguishes crystal from ordinary glass. At 20 cm octagonal, the piece is larger than the 18 cm porcelain series and occupies a different register: substantial enough to serve as a table centerpiece, transparent enough to read as light and refined rather than heavy. The octagonal form in crystal gives the piece defined edges that catch and refract the available light around the table.

Paisley Motif

The Paisley motif is rendered in the crystal glass — engraved, etched, or cut into the surface, the ancient boteh form present in the material at the scale the 20 cm piece allows. The motif reads through the transparency of the glass, visible from above and from the sides, present in the thickness of the crystal rather than applied to its surface.

Dual Cigar Rests / Gold

Two cigar rests are set into the crystal glass structure in gold finishing. Gold adds warmth to the transparent body — warm metal against clear glass producing a classic contrast of material registers, each making the other more legible.

Now available at The Tobacconist of Greenwich.