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Lot Essay
The present vase is part of Gallé's Les Veilleuses, a small series of vases decorated with colchicum in glass marquetry. This series, created in 1897, was marketed in 1898. There are several versions of different sizes and shapes. As early as 1891, Gallé used this colchicum motif for a vase entitled Les veilleuse d'automne (Musée d'Orsay, inv. no. OAO 303). This latter vase was presented at the Salon du Champ de Mars in 1892 and described by Gallé as follows:
Cristal transparent nuagé de bleu céleste et de rose changeants.
Colchiques d’automne gravées en pâtes mauve et safranée.
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Transparent crystal shaded with celestial blue and changing pink.
Colchicum of autumn engraved in mauve and saffron pastes.
The shape of the colchicum, with its narrow stem, lance-shaped leaves, and chalice-shaped bloom, evokes that of a night light, hence the series name. In 1892, Gallé wrote to Robert de Montesquiou:
Et la veilleuse d’automne, combien n’a-t-elle pas par cette couleur, et forme exquise, une tendre signification d’attente fidèle, de réapparition dans les jours meilleurs de fin de tout ; c’est la résurrection d’une âme nue, en calice qui surgit de terre sans aucune feuille (lettre datée du 20 août 1892).
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And the autumn night-light, how much does not have by this color, and exquisite form, a tender significance of faithful waiting, of reappearance in the better days of end of all; it is the resurrection of a nude soul, in chalice that emerges from earth without any leaf (letter dated August 20, 1892).
One example from this series was sold at Christie's December 8, 2021 Design sale, lot 92, 'Colchiques ou les Veilleuses' Handled Coupe (sold for $13,800). Other examples are included in museum collections such as the Museum of the School of Nancy (inv. no. JC 11) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York (inv. no. 1984.553).
– 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
Cristal transparent nuagé de bleu céleste et de rose changeants.
Colchiques d’automne gravées en pâtes mauve et safranée.
-
Transparent crystal shaded with celestial blue and changing pink.
Colchicum of autumn engraved in mauve and saffron pastes.
The shape of the colchicum, with its narrow stem, lance-shaped leaves, and chalice-shaped bloom, evokes that of a night light, hence the series name. In 1892, Gallé wrote to Robert de Montesquiou:
Et la veilleuse d’automne, combien n’a-t-elle pas par cette couleur, et forme exquise, une tendre signification d’attente fidèle, de réapparition dans les jours meilleurs de fin de tout ; c’est la résurrection d’une âme nue, en calice qui surgit de terre sans aucune feuille (lettre datée du 20 août 1892).
-
And the autumn night-light, how much does not have by this color, and exquisite form, a tender significance of faithful waiting, of reappearance in the better days of end of all; it is the resurrection of a nude soul, in chalice that emerges from earth without any leaf (letter dated August 20, 1892).
One example from this series was sold at Christie's December 8, 2021 Design sale, lot 92, 'Colchiques ou les Veilleuses' Handled Coupe (sold for $13,800). Other examples are included in museum collections such as the Museum of the School of Nancy (inv. no. JC 11) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York (inv. no. 1984.553).
– 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