This charming pair of Baccarat vases, from about 1880, is decorated in the style called japonisme, a French term coined in 1872 to describe the fashion for Japanese fine, graphic, and decorative arts that lasted until the end of the 19th century. Japan opened for trade to the West in 1854, and began to exhibit at International Expositions in 1862. French artists and designers respected Japanese craftsmanship, found inspiration in their emphasis on nature, and began to incorporate Japanese themes, images, and compositional formats in their art. Woodblock prints by Japanese artists, such as Katsushika Hokusai (1760─1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797─1858), provided artisans with a wide variety of Japanese subjects. The well-established French glass manufacturer Baccarat referenced Japanese woodblock prints in their glass designs, many of which were displayed at the Paris International Expositions in 1867 and 1878. Baccarat was one of the first French glass companies to produce glass in the Japoniste style. These opalescent glass vases are enameled in a graduated green color, each with two birds perched on flowering plum branches against overlapping circles; the top circle resembles a moon and frames the birds, while the bottom circle depicts a landscapes of hazy trees. The birds appear to be blue nuthatches, and rufous-backed shrikes, both native species to Asian regions. Images of birds perched on flowering branches was a popular theme in Japanese prints, as was the use of geometric shapes to focus a viewer’s gaze onto vignettes of different, but related, scenes. This compositional technique, seen most often in Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, imparted a sense of fleeting beauty to everyday subjects.