Cristal Nancy

Sometimes, collectors will come across perfume or cologne bottles acid etched with Cristal Nancy.

Cristal Nancy is not Daum Nancy. Cristal Nancy is the name for Cristalleries de Nancy, established in 1921 on the initiative of Jules Bayet, and located directly across from the famed Daum Nancy glass manufacturer on land donated by the Fruhinsholtz Company. Cristalleries de Nancy poached several of Daum's glass blowers and with their help, produced high end, expensive cut crystal products, mainly perfume bottles, which were their specialty. Auguste Houillon, a talented sculptor created many products for the company.

A quick economic crisis forced the company to find other outlets which meant expanded production to tableware and bathroom articles.

The company then opened a shop and a decoration workshop in Paris. Agencies were created around the world, in New York, London, Cologne, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. The company won a Grand Prize at the Art Deco Exhibition in Paris in 1925. Bottle commissions from the USA show that they are major customers.

But a second economic crisis hit Cristal Nancy again and they suffered a loss of export mainly to augmentation (about 70%) of import taxes decreed by the USA.


Upon liquidation of the company, the stocks were sold at greater furor, hoping to recover some of the gross from investment. The company closed in its doors in 1934 and was acquired by Baccarat . For mere breadcrumbs, Daum Nancy acquired some of the molds, ovens and former staff from the Cristal Nancy factory and by 1937, was producing these items under their own name.