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Lot Essay
This fine soliflor vase, internally decorated and with foil inclusions, surface carved and with applications, is a multi-technique work that shows off the technical virtuosity that Gallé and his skilled artisans had achieved by the time of their important and highly visible display at the Exposition Universelle of 1900. The engraved ‘1900’ situates the piece in that context. The engraved text adds a spiritual dimension, underscoring the artist’s consistent intention to develop material and motifs as metaphors for abstract ideas. In this vase the rise to heaven of those who have deserved Paradise is illustrated by the ascension of the galinetta (invested with good luck since Antiquity) along the thin collar of the vase.
Three versions of the model are known, all in Japanese collections, including this lot. A vase of this model was photographed with four other vases of exceptional quality on the top shelf of a fall-front desk, most probably the desk ‘La Forêt Lorraine’ exhibited in the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris. The photograph, published by Pazaurek, is dated to 1901.
Three versions of the model are known, all in Japanese collections, including this lot. A vase of this model was photographed with four other vases of exceptional quality on the top shelf of a fall-front desk, most probably the desk ‘La Forêt Lorraine’ exhibited in the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris. The photograph, published by Pazaurek, is dated to 1901.