Large Art Nouveau Daum vase. Nancy, France, ca. 1900

Large Art Nouveau vase DAUM. Nancy, France, ca. 1900.
Acid etched cameo glass.
Signed and numbered 841.
Measurements: 54 x 19 x 19 cm.

Large acid-etched cameo glass vase decorated with a lake landscape half hidden by the branches of a leafy tree in the foreground. The brownish green tones stand out against a reddish background of yellows and oranges. During the Art Nouveau period, most Daum pieces were made of acid-etched cameo glass, but with the new Art Deco style, new techniques and decorative styles were investigated.

The Daum manufacture was founded in the late 19th century by Augustin Daum (1853-1909), from a small family glassworks in Nancy. He would be joined by his brother Antonin (1864-1931), and Daum's workshops would soon after become a meeting and training place for many young artists, who promoted the Art Nouveau style in Nancy. At first they made ordinary glass, but in 1891 they decided to open a decorative workshop and undertake artistic production, probably as a result of the success of Émile Gallé (1846-1904) at the 1889 Exhibition. Eventually, Daum will have a factory with more than three hundred employees and an artistic production of great variety. During World War I, the factory closed, but resumed production after the war, adapting to the change of aesthetics and leaving behind the modernism of its first period.