"I love the way the French dated everything," Patricia explains. "Souvenir glasses engraved with a birthday — you don't get that anymore. I love dated, engraved glassware."
This cylindrical lidded jar was made in 1934 for the Confiserie Le Frère in Le Havre, Normandy — the kind of bonbonnière that once sat on a shop counter filled with sweets, its identity etched directly into the glass. The inscription curves around the body in neat period lettering: *Confiserie Le Frère, Le Havre*. The date 1934 appears on the lid. Clear and weightily made, with a domed lid topped by a solid ball finial, it is simple, functional and entirely elegant. Patricia looked up the confiserie; it no longer exists — which makes this jar all the more worth keeping.
From the collection of Patricia and Walter Wells, this bonbonnière would be at home on a kitchen shelf, a bathroom ledge, or a dressing table — holding cotton balls, sugar, small chocolates, or simply nothing at all. It is the kind of object that asks to be noticed: a small, clear record of a Norman confectioner, a year, and the French habit of marking things as though they matter.
Light wear.
Approx. overall 9" high x 6¾" diameter
Approx. overall 23cm high x 17cm diameter