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Lot Essay
‘Lys blanc’ (‘White lily’) is among Emile Gallé’s most remarkable creations. The synthesis of theme and form is total, the result fully sculptural, sensuous, voluptuous, and expressive. This tour-de-force of glasswork has been well described by Françoise Thérèse Charpentier who observes: ‘…it is among the best known [of Gallé’s works], to the point of representing for many the very essence of his oeuvre. This is surely an important piece…in the sense that it is a kind of fulfilment of a whole story of his research regarding form and material. Here, decorative art aspires to the status of sculpture, indeed quite simply to that of ‘art’, as defined by the spirit of the century.’ (Thiébault, Gallé, p. 236)
Thiébault confirms that the model was introduced in 1900 and was exhibited in Paris in 1903 in the Exposition Lorraine. The technical challenges in blowing and modelling ‘à chaud’ such a thickness of glass, with the attendant risks of its cracking during the cooling, were considerable. Gallé and his experienced artisans were pushing glasswork to its limits in pursuit of such ambitious effects. Research into the chemical additives that would slow and thus mitigate the risks during cooling was just one aspect of the technical mastery demanded by such a piece, as were the issues involved in designing and fitting a bronze base that would become an integral element of the concept. The end result is a true masterpiece within Gall’s already impressive oeuvre and by any measure within the history of glass as a medium of high artistic creativity.
Thiébault confirms that the model was introduced in 1900 and was exhibited in Paris in 1903 in the Exposition Lorraine. The technical challenges in blowing and modelling ‘à chaud’ such a thickness of glass, with the attendant risks of its cracking during the cooling, were considerable. Gallé and his experienced artisans were pushing glasswork to its limits in pursuit of such ambitious effects. Research into the chemical additives that would slow and thus mitigate the risks during cooling was just one aspect of the technical mastery demanded by such a piece, as were the issues involved in designing and fitting a bronze base that would become an integral element of the concept. The end result is a true masterpiece within Gall’s already impressive oeuvre and by any measure within the history of glass as a medium of high artistic creativity.