This extraordinary and extensive Collection of ormolu-mounted opaline and mother-of-pearl objects was formed by a passionate and erudite collector over several decades. It includes various precious necessaires, sewing and work-boxes in mother-of-pearl, so-called ‘Palais-Royal’ wares, named after the Duke d’ Orleans’ palace complex above the Louvre where from the 1780s many small shops selling these luxury goods were based in the arcades. The most famous was Maison A l'Escalier de Cristal, established in 1802 by the widow Mme. Disarnaud. Her firm was the first manufacturer to mount crystal taillé objects with gilt-bronze. These were supplied by Aimé-Gabriel d'Artigues (d. 1848), who in 1802 had bought the Voneche glass factory in the Ardennes, later to become the Baccarat crystal works, and were then shipped and finished in the Palais Royal workshops. Escalier de Cristal supplied clocks, vases, lamps and other objects d'art to many Royal families in Europe, and was appointed Fournisseur breveté du Roi in 1819, as well as supplying the Duc de Berry and the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne extensively.

This Collection also includes numerous precious opaline glass objects, which should more correctly be termed 'cristal d'opale' - a type of lead crystal which is then coloured by the addition of other substances. The earliest examples of 'cristal d'opale' appeared in the Empire period, a technique again pioneered by Baccarat and often fitted with mounts from Palais Royal and other Paris ateliers. The taste for such opalines was particularly marked in the Restauration period, when endless delicate and sophisticated pastel colours were developed, including various pinks, purples and blues, all represented in the present Collection. The Journal des Dames et des Modes in January 1824 for instance remarked that 'On a donné aux dames, en cadeau de Jour de l'An, beaucoup de cristaux colorés en blanc laiteux dit opale; en rose dit hortensia, en bleu dit turquoise...' (S. Faniel ed., Le Dix-Neuvième Siècle Français, Paris, 1957, p.126).