Vintage Glass Compotier - VI

Outside Lyon there is a dealer we have known for years, and the loveliest things always come from the same place, his father’s collection, built up over a lifetime of looking. This footed cake stand came from that collection, a wide plate edged in fine glass sawtooth and cut with a band of hobnail and fans, raised on a knopped stem and a fluted, flaring foot. It has the weight and the shine of old glass, curving the light and turning whatever it holds into something worth a second look. Sylvie piles it with pears or fruit, or a cake worth showing off.