Thanks Neil.
In Farbenglas I Neuwirth refers to Batka's contemporary report of the time (page 275):
- Batka praises the way the factories St.Louis, Baccarat, Choisy and Bercey use the 'brass press molds' (my underlining) as joint property and how the factories worked together on this project.
and the Batka report also says:
- '....The costs for the sketches and the modeling of the brass molds for the pressed glasses are said to have cost more than 100,000 francs alone, and still their use has bought these companies more than ten time enough to cover the expense'.
So, if I'm right on conversion, from 1840 to now that's about c. 3,400,000 francs in today's money. To provide the sketches and the modeling of the brass molds. Very expensive.
On that basis, it's understandable why it was a joint effort by the 4 companies, but also understandable that their efforts to market and sell to the world (Launay Hautin catalogues with their designs for each piece that look to my eye almost architectural in their accuracy) to recoup that money must have been enormous I presume.
Therefore I think it's most likely my becher came from France rather than elsewhere.
m