Burgun, Schwerer & Co., located in the Northern Vosges in a place with the romantic name of Meisenthal, which means “Sinichkina Valley”, is one of the oldest glass enterprises in Lorraine, known since 1702 under the name MEISENTHAL GLASS. In 1824 the firm became BURGUN, SCHVERER & Cie.

At the end of the 19th century, the company worked closely with Émile Galle, who created sketches for glass products for the company and, in turn, placed orders for the supply of blanks for his factory in Nancy. Halle’s success at the 1889 World’s Fair led to a huge number of orders, which were carried out not only at his factory in Nancy, but also in Meisenthal, which at that time employed more than a thousand workers.

The experienced craftsman Desiree Christian (1846-1907) was engaged in these projects, creating products from acid-etched glass (cameo glass) according to the method of Galle, according to his sketches and under his signature. And when, in 1896, Desiree Christian left the firm to set up his own company, Eugène Kremer took his place.

Experienced craftsmen of the company perfectly mastered all the known methods of decorating glass products of that time. The martélé technique is very interesting, which consists in processing the glass surface with a special hammer, which forms small chips on the glass, creating a kind of matte background. A new layer of molten glass could be applied to the preform thus treated.