Of the two, adding lead to glass to create crystal is the older art, having emerged around 3,500 years ago in Mesopotamia, while the firing kilns of China first separated mere pottery from porcelain around the beginning of the modern year count. For this reason, porcelain is also referred to as ‘fine bone china’, for by the time it reached Europe, the Middle East and Far East had already taken this form of artistry to a high point of perfection. Ever since, makers of porcelain and ‘lead glass’ have been inspired to new heights of creativity, quality, and skill.

Crystal

Mesopotamia is regarded as the cradle of an industry that is almost four millennia old, and the oldest known fragment of crystal found here was dated to 1,400 BCE. It later also spread to China, India, Europe, and eventually across the globe, but today the most revered names in the creation of fine quality crystalware are almost exclusively European, many of them known around the world and regarded as the pinnacle of luxury in their field. One of the oldest of these is the Compagnie des Cristalleries de Saint Louis, now known as Saint Louis and owned by Hermès.

Founded in 1586, Saint Louis worked by royal commission and led crystal production in Europe, laying the foundations for other renowned French crystal makers such as La Rochère, Daum, Christofle, Lalique, and Baccarat. Where René Lalique became famous for his Art Nouveau-inspired glass jewellery and decorative creations, Christofle and Baccarat create some of the most exquisite tableware in the world. This is also true of Val Saint Lambert, a luxury manufacturer from Belgium that was founded by a French master craftsman at Napoleon’s initiative.

You see, the great general and statesman had an eye for business as well, and customers of this purveyor of beautiful, coloured glass have been grateful ever since. But it isn’t France alone that has a reputation for fine quality crystal, as perhaps the oldest of all manufacturers of crystalware is Bohemia, an institution in the field since the Middle Ages. Its characteristic designs spawned brands such as Moser and inspired other great names, such as Rogaska of Slovenia and Swarovski of Austria – the largest of all crystal producers – Waterford from Ireland, and Atlantis from Portugal, each known for its unique signature style. In a Bentley, you will likely be sipping Champagne from a Cumbria Crystal, as it is a purveyor to the famous brand of luxury cars. In fact, in the days of classic motoring about a century ago, many a wealthy owner of a luxurious limousine would commission his own bonnet mascot – often designed and crafted by crystal artists such as René Lalique.

Porcelain

Porcelain had already been an intricate part of Asian art, culture, and value for over a millennium when it first reached Europe. This is especially true of the Far East, where the Chinese and later also the Japanese rose to unheard of heights of skill and finesse. Such was the quality of these products that they became a form of currency in their own right, considered at the time among the most desirable objects of luxury in the world. Not surprisingly, China and Japan’s finest creations made their way across Asia to the Middle East, where Venetian traders brought these unheard of luxuries to the shores of Europe.

Apart from spices, porcelain was one of the treasures of the East that drove European explorers and traders to venture across the oceans and endure years of hardship just to lay their hands on such precious prizes. In the end, it was the Portuguese who won the race, finding the route around Africa to India and ultimately China. As a result, it is Portugal that has the oldest and one of the finest porcelain traditions in Europe, followed shortly afterwards by the equally adventurous Dutch seafarers.

So, when the first Portuguese and Dutch merchants brought back precious fine bone China, it was the blue-and-white style made using a cobalt oxide that was copied and later adapted by these European countries to lay the foundations for their own gorgeous blue-white porcelain. In the case of the Dutch, it became famous in its own right as ‘Delft Blue’, though Portugal’s Vistalegre brand continues to be one of the finest manufacturers of fine bone china in the world today.

It ranks among the likes of Wedgwood and Royal Copenhagen, the British and Danish blue-white interpretations of the Chinese original, as well as famous German brands Villeroy & Boch and Meissen, the latter being the first hard-paste china made in Europe. Their delicate figurines compare with the iconic style of Lladró, a Spanish company from the Comunitat Valenciana whose characteristically flowing designs are instantly recognisable and have long been hot collectors items.

Asprey from Great Britain is another hallowed name in this refined field, as are Herend and Zsolnay from Hungary, but as with crystal the French have the bulk of the top names to their credit, including the likes of Limoges, Sèvres (originally founded as Vincennes Porcelaine), Christofle, and Hermès. These are just some of the leading names within an artistic, creative world in which finely crafted crystal and porcelain pieces of the utmost beauty add style and function to modern homes just as they did to chateaux and country estates centuries ago, not to mention the imperial courts of China, Japan, and other parts of Asia for almost two thousand years. For now, this ancient art form continues to thrive and looks set to do so for many more years to come. In an increasingly technological and ‘virtual’ world, tactile artistry and beauty of this kind will only continue to gain value.