ÉMILE GALLÉ (1846-1904)
ÉMILE GALLÉ (1846-1904)
ÉMILE GALLÉ (1846-1904)
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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. THOMAS CHUA
ÉMILE GALLÉ (1846-1904)

'La Coupe Massenet', circa 1900

Details
ÉMILE GALLÉ (1846-1904)
'La Coupe Massenet', circa 1900
mount executed by E. Enot, Paris
internally decorated, wheel-carved glass with gold inclusion, gilt-bronze mount
5 1⁄2 in. (14 cm) high, 7 1⁄4 in. (18.4 cm) diameter (including mount)
cup engraved Gallé and La coupe Massenet
mount impressed twice E. ENOT PARIS
Provenance
Christie's, New York, 10 December 1998, lot 89
Shai Bandmann, Tel Aviv
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Further Details
Christie's would like to thank François Le Tacon for his assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.

Brought to you by

Daphné Riou
Daphné Riou SVP, Senior Specialist, Head of Americas

Lot Essay

Émile Gallé, a polymath, was an excellent pianist and music lover. In Paris, he frequented the theater and opera where he established strong relationships with great musicians, singers and actresses of the time. Among these musicians and composers were Eugène Ysaye (1858-1931), Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931) who came to Nancy, Raoul Pugno (1852-1914), Jules Massenet (1842-1912), Alfred Bruneau (1857-1934), Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) and Albéric Magnard (1865-1914).

In Nancy, Gallé was a personal friend of composer Guy Ropartz (1864-1955). Gallé dedicated two different vases to Raoul Pugno and Eugène Ysaye with the same quotation from Victor Hugo:
Cherchez la note humaine. Allez dans les suprêmes symphonies.
-
Look for the human note. Go to the supreme symphonies.

For Vincent d'Indy, Gallé created a sumptuous triple-layered vase with cabochon applications and metallic inclusions. This vase bears the dedication: To Vincent d'Indy, the National Conservatory of Music of Nancy, 7 II 1897 and is engraved with a quotation from Vincent d'Indy himself:
C’est ainsi que tranquille et l’âme au ciel ravie, l’Artiste fait son oeuvre et le reste n’est rien.
-
It is thus that quiet and his soul deligthted in the sky, the Artist makes his work and the rest is nothing.

The present lot is engraved La coupe Massenet in reference to the French composer Jules Massenet (1842-1912), who was widely popular during his lifetime. It is probable that Emile Gallé met him while in Paris and that this coupe was a personal gift from Gallé to Jules Massenet. With its beautifully carved dragonfly and superb gilt bronze mount which perfectly embraces the coupe, this rare work epitomizes Gallé's genius in using glassmaking as an art form.

– 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

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