Vintage Glass Compotier -I

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 little footed dish came from that collection, a shallow round plate pressed with a shell and sprays of fern, edged in beading and raised on a square, stepped pedestal foot. It has the weight and the shine of old glass, curving the light and turning whatever sits beneath it into something worth a second look. Sylvie would set a few figs on it, or a single candle, and let it lift a small thing into view.