In the 1980s, new artists decided to embark on the adventure of glass paste to create decorative art objects, like their predecessors of the first half of the 20th century.
Invented in France by Henry Cros at the end of the 19th century and used at the beginning of the following century by a few rare practitioners to create art objects, pâte de verre was brought back into the spotlight in Conches, at the beginning of the 1980s, by Antoine and Etienne Leperier, the grandsons of François Décorchemont.
After relighting their grandfather's kilns, the Leperlier brothers empirically rediscovered his manufacturing secrets and began producing lost-wax glass art objects. Initially, their designs, produced in limited editions and in various colors, resembled those of Décorchemont. However, as they pursued their own artistic explorations, they distinguished themselves from their grandfather's work, while also developing their own distinct styles. While Etienne Leperlier focused more on architectural forms, Antoine Leperlier displayed a growing interest in the concept of time.
During the 1980s, other artists also became interested in this material, which can be used independently in a personal studio. Thus, the Czech Erich Schamschula, who had settled in France, also began producing vases in pâte de verre in the early 1980s; the British Diana Hobson and the French Frédérique Chiampo created delicate bowls in pâte de verre stamped in molds; the American Doug Anderson created small naturalistic compositions; finally, the French Barbara Couffini also began creating objects in pâte de verre at the end of the decade.