"Collecting this type of glass is rather restricted and a very French thing," says Bernard Dragesco, senior partner at Dragesco-Cramoisan, a Paris antiques shop specializing in French porcelain and glass. "Simple pieces generally used by the middle class were not highly prized or decorated and therefore have not survived in great numbers."

In explanation, Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk, curator of European glass at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, reaches back to the 1500s, when the French industry was infiltrated by foreign craftsmen, dominated by imports, and heavily influenced by Italian, especially Venetian, designs. "By the 17th century, there were large numbers of Venetian and other foreign glassmakers working in France," he says. "They found a market and could make a good living creating work called façon de Venise through the early 18th century.

"After King Louis XIV ordered his entire collection of Venetian glass at Versailles destroyed, it seems that this type of glass fell out of favor in France," von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk continues. As a result, people embraced the use of simple glassware called verre de fougère, which was slightly green or yellowish-gray glass produced from fern ash. "That was a unique situation because at that time, Venetian glass was still esteemed all over Europe -- except in France, where it was held that wine tasted better in verre de fougère."

However, by the mid-18th century, von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk says, the French glassmaking industry declined to such an extent that in 1760, the Académie des Sciences took steps to conquer the problems that had plagued the business for so long. The result was the stepping up of production and the founding of several new factories. Some of the most important -- The Verrerie de Sainte-Anne, established at Baccarat in 1764 and renamed the Cristalleries de Baccarat by the 1800s, and the Verrerie Royale de Saint-Louis, established in Lorraine in 1767 -- are still active today.

As the industry rebounded and eventually became self-sustaining, it began to produce, for the most part, simple glassware, which is coveted by an enthusiastic group of collectors.

Surprisingly, and certainly unlike the fate of other fragile antiques, these now-precious mouth-blown, hand-cut drinking vessels are not always relegated to display shelves. Rather, the pieces -- including tiny and large liqueur glasses, graduated white and red wine glasses, Champagne flutes, and tumblers -- are loved and used daily by their owners, who consider them the exclamation point to a perfect French table.

In a similar vein, collectors Jack and Pat Holden of New Roads, Louisiana, are devotees of all things French. "We use our antique glassware every day," says Pat. She and Jack adore combing flea markets in Paris and the French countryside, are regular subscribers to important auction catalogs, and are expert Internet searchers. "We treasure our wonderful 18th- and early 19th-century material culture -- including French glassware that turned up in archaeological digs in Louisiana."

"That's not surprising," says Jody Wilkie, international head of ceram-ics and glass at Christie's New York. "When you think about it, the French settlers who came to live in Louisiana brought all their household goods. Consequently, it is probably the best place in the country to locate this type of glassware."

Unfortunately, serious collectors who demand provenance will find it virtually impossible to document exactly when different styles of glass were produced, as individual pieces were unsigned and unmarked until much later. Instead, both Smith and Dragesco suggest studying the art of the day, such as the paintings by prolific 18th-century painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin.

"You don't find elaborate glassware in Chardin's works," Dragesco says. Indeed, within the painter's invaluable record of everyday life in at least 140 works, collectors can learn a great deal about form and style. A case in point: In the artist's early 18th-century works, nearly all the water glasses he depicted were plain, but ribbed designs in later works reflected a growing taste for cut glass, which was produced in several glassworks in the mid-18th century.

Also pictured in Chardin's paintings are varieties of stemmed glasses, called verres à pattes, that were used for all kinds of wine, as the use of specific glasses for different wines did not become the rule until the mid-19th century. Within this category, various forms are distinguished by slender baluster or corrugated stems, and others feature a molded honeycomb pattern on the bowl that is well-known today and is part of many private collections.

Although both seasoned and new collectors love the innate usefulness of their glassware, all underscore creative alternative uses. Champagne flutes filled with blowsy flowers become a perfect tableaux, whether lined up in the middle of a dining table or clustered on a mantel. Water glasses are attractive for serving puddings and sorbets, and the small, round, miniature stemmed cups -- once used for eating fruit that was left over from making a liqueur -- create an interesting backdrop for place cards on a well-dressed dining table. Wherever it appears, antique glassware bespeaks mystery, age, and grace -- with an unmistakable French accent.