Set of Ten Baccarat Glass Franklin Mint Edition Paperweights. 

Paired and in their original fitted box, the underside of each with Baccarat factory marks, from the Bi-Centennial Collection. Each with a portrait of a historical figure, including, George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson, Louis XVI, and others. 

Size of Box(es): 7 5/8 x 4 7/8 x 2 in. 

Size of Heads: 3 x 1 7/8 in. 

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Baccarat Glass was established in 1765 by the Bishop of Metz who wanted to encourage industry in the small village of Baccarat 250 miles east of Paris, France. The Verrerie de Sainte Anne at Baccarat made all kinds of utility glassware (windows, bottles, tableware) and survived the French Revolution (1789) but struggled through the Napoleonic Wars (1812-1815). The shifting borders of Europe following the Wars placed the great French glassworks at Voneche in Northern France within the newly created country of Belgium. The owner of Voneche, a Parisian named Aime-Gabriel D’Artigues, bought the Baccarat glassworks so that he could re-establish his business in France and continue to serve French customers without paying heavy import taxes. The new company Voneche-Baccarat focused on high quality lead-crystal glass. In 1822 D’Artigues sold the glassworks and the new owners set up the Compagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat (keeping Voneche as part of the name until 1843). After winning medals at major exhibitions in Paris in 1823, the company soon became (and remains today) the foremost glassworks in France. The little town of Baccarat is now almost exclusively dedicated to glassworking through factories, museums, and shops, having become a destination for tourists the world over.