Vintage Glass Compotier - III

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 shallow plate pressed with scrolling leaves beneath a ruffled, rippling rim, raised on a hobnail foot dotted all over like beads. 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 piles it with cake or fruit, or floats a few candles across the plate for a table.