Joé-Descomps, a contemporary of the jeweler René Lalique, was a versatile designer whose work encompassed jewelry, vases of patinated or gilded bronze, and—his specialty—cups of mixed media in which the metal form was studded with cabochons of hardstones or glass. In this Art Nouveau evocation of German Renaissance glass he has driven his personal style to a dramatic conclusion. The patinated silver frame is formed of sinuous tiers of dragonflies and scrolling foliage through which the glass bubbles seem to burst with pulsating force. In a technically daring process requiring the coordinated skills of two craftsmen, the glass was blown into a mold through the openings in the silver frame.

Joé-Descomps enjoyed a modest but favorable reputation at the beginning of this century, but nothing is known of his workshop. The beaker bears his stamp as designer as well as the mark of an unidentified silversmith with the initials JBF.