vase

Aristide-Michel Colotte (1885-1959) was a French cutter and engraver who initially worked at the Baccarat glassworks. In 1926, he established a studio at Nancy, where he refined his cutting skills. Colotte worked with heavy blocks of cast crystal that he usually acquired from Baccarat. He sculpted these blocks using a variety of cold-working techniques, such as cutting, acid etching, chiseling, and filing. Colotte carved vessels with abstract, geometric decoration in the Art Deco style, as well as human and animal figures. His first sculptured vessels were exhibited at the 1927 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in Paris, for which he was awarded the prize “Best Worker in France.” This vase, which depicts birds in thick foliage, stands on its original black glass base. It is signed by Colotte with the notation “pièce unique,” which means “one-of-a-kind.”