Émile Gallé

ÉMILE GALLÉ, (Nancy, France, 1846 - 1904).
Vase.
Cameo glass.
Signed.
Measurements: 26 cm (height); 11 cm (largest diameter).

Vase of cameo glass worked to acid, decorated with flowers of large pistils in reddish brown tone on a base in yellow and orange tones. It is a typical work of Gallé's industrial production, with large plant motifs captured with naturalism and movement, in an asymmetrical composition.

Émile Gallé began his career working for his father, who owned a glass and ceramics factory, making designs with floral and heraldic motifs. Very interested in botany, he studied it in depth during his youth, alternating with drawing classes. Between 1862 and 1864, at his father's request, he traveled through Italy, England and Germany, becoming interested in the applied arts but also in subjects that he would later reflect in his works, such as music, philosophy and nature. On his return, he settled in Meisenthal, where his family's glass furnaces were, in order to fully learn the craft of glassmaking. He also traveled to London and Paris to see the collections of their museums. In 1874 he took over his father's factory, and soon achieved great international success, winning awards at international exhibitions and selling works to major collections and museums. Today, pieces made by Émile Gallé can be seen in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Orsay Museum in Paris, the Brohan Museum in Berlin and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, among many others.