Shell-shaped crystal paperweight.

Here is a very beautiful shell, presumably made of crystal, as it is heavy for its size and has a lovely transparency. Sometimes presented as an ashtray, this nautilus rather reminds me of a small catch-all doubled as a paperweight, a very nice object to adorn a desk. Regularly presented as a product of the Vannes-le-Châtel crystal factory in Lorraine, which became La Compagnie Française du Cristal in 1960 following its merger with several other crystal manufacturers including Bayel and Vallerysthal, the one I am offering here does not have or no longer has any markings (sometimes there was only a paper label that quickly peeled off), so I cannot be definitive about its origin or dating. However, it is a quality piece with lovely finishes: the edges are rounded, very smooth, soft, and the base is clean and neatly polished. This ashtray is in very good condition, clean, with no cracks; the material is very smooth and transparent, but it does have a few small signs that testify to its age: tiny scratches under or near the base and a small mark, I think from a chip, on the underside (a one-millimetre circle with a tiny chip, see the last photo in very close-up, in reality, it is very little visible). It measures approximately 11 cm by 12 cm and is 6 cm high.