Thomas Fuchs reveals jungle mystery in Le Trésor Perdu crystal

Thomas Fuchs and Daum have created Le Trésor Perdu, a crystal sculpture that rewards the closest looking. The work emerges as pure green glass, shaped and textured to suggest a jungle dense with possibility, each surface catching and refracting light in ways that draw the eye deeper into its depths. The closer one moves toward it, the more the story unfolds.

Fuchs is known for his meticulous approach to narrative within form. Here, the crystal itself becomes a carrier of meaning. Reliefs and hollows fracture the surface, creating shadow and illumination that shift as one walks around the piece. What reads as organic growth from one angle suggests something altogether different from another. A smooth passage opens to reveal a pocket of air trapped within the glass. The work invites, almost demands, continued exploration.

Daum, the French house founded in Nancy in 1878, has long collaborated with contemporary artists to push the possibilities of crystal as a sculptural medium. The house’s technical mastery in casting, carving and polishing glass allows designers and artists to move far beyond decoration into the territory of serious contemporary art. The surfaces of Le Trésor Perdu show this craftsmanship: the glass moves from translucent to opaque, from polished to textured, from deep forest green to near black where light cannot penetrate.

The work sits mounted on a metal base, positioned where light can play across its surfaces. Those who encounter it find themselves drawn into the same act of discovery that shaped its making: searching for clues, finding meanings, discovering that a jungle of imagination grows within something as ancient and elemental as crystal.

Imagery courtesy of Daum (@lamaisondaum).