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Lot Essay
Christie's would like to thank François Le Tacon for his assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.
In the Middle Ages, the columbine symbolized the Holy Spirit. It is also the symbol of madness and the emblem of the king's fools. In the work presented here, we must not look for any allusion to the symbolism of columbine. Only the elegance of the flower, the beauty of the shapes, the subtlety of the colors and the magic of the glass marquetry should be taken in account. The marqueterie-sur-verre technique is one of Emile Gallé’s most challenging achievements. Not satisfied with the effects of the overlay of cameo glass layers and looking for richness and depth of colors, Gallé created a new technique, inspired by wood marquetry, the result of many chemical experiments and which could only be executed by the most skilled artisan: adding hot fragments of glass into the surface or under other layers of glass, making sure that the elements would not crack in the cooling.
Emile Gallé registered the designs, dated July 1st, 1902, of a series of vases of the ‘Ancolies’ or ‘Columbine’ type, inspired by the aquilegia flower with its distinctive spurred petals. An example of this model was in the collection of Roger Marx, art critic and friend of Gallé. Another example is in the collection of the Musée de l’École de Nancy (inv. 002.9.1), and was created by Emile Gallé specially for Emile André, his friend and another member of the École de Nancy. A very similar vase was offered to Russia in 1902 by Emile Loubet, Président of the French Republic, during his visit to this country. The present lot is an extraordinary example of this highly sought-after model, remarkable by its elongated silhouette, vivid range of colors and superb quality.
– François Le Tacon, leading expert for the work of Émile Gallé and author, among others, of Émile Gallé L'amour de l'Art, les écrits artistiques du Maître de l'Art Nouveau, Éditions Place Stanislas, 2010 and Émile Gallé, ou Le mariage de l'art et de la science, Éditions Messène, Paris, 1995
In the Middle Ages, the columbine symbolized the Holy Spirit. It is also the symbol of madness and the emblem of the king's fools. In the work presented here, we must not look for any allusion to the symbolism of columbine. Only the elegance of the flower, the beauty of the shapes, the subtlety of the colors and the magic of the glass marquetry should be taken in account. The marqueterie-sur-verre technique is one of Emile Gallé’s most challenging achievements. Not satisfied with the effects of the overlay of cameo glass layers and looking for richness and depth of colors, Gallé created a new technique, inspired by wood marquetry, the result of many chemical experiments and which could only be executed by the most skilled artisan: adding hot fragments of glass into the surface or under other layers of glass, making sure that the elements would not crack in the cooling.
Emile Gallé registered the designs, dated July 1st, 1902, of a series of vases of the ‘Ancolies’ or ‘Columbine’ type, inspired by the aquilegia flower with its distinctive spurred petals. An example of this model was in the collection of Roger Marx, art critic and friend of Gallé. Another example is in the collection of the Musée de l’École de Nancy (inv. 002.9.1), and was created by Emile Gallé specially for Emile André, his friend and another member of the École de Nancy. A very similar vase was offered to Russia in 1902 by Emile Loubet, Président of the French Republic, during his visit to this country. The present lot is an extraordinary example of this highly sought-after model, remarkable by its elongated silhouette, vivid range of colors and superb quality.
– François Le Tacon, leading expert for the work of Émile Gallé and author, among others, of Émile Gallé L'amour de l'Art, les écrits artistiques du Maître de l'Art Nouveau, Éditions Place Stanislas, 2010 and Émile Gallé, ou Le mariage de l'art et de la science, Éditions Messène, Paris, 1995