DAUM vase. Nancy, France, 1905-1910

DAUM vase. Nancy, France, 1905-1910.
Iridescent hammered glass.
Signed.
Measurements: 15 x 12 x 12 cm.

Vase of globular body in hot bent glass of the manufacture of Daum Nancy, decorated with bouquets whose tulips show different states of flowering, on an iridescent background in gradations of mauve. The motif has been worked in layers, in the manner of a cameo. The hot molded glass allowed Daum glassmakers to conceive forms of organic appearance and natural finish.

The Daum manufacture was founded in the late nineteenth century by Augustin Daum (1853-1909), from a small family glassworks in Nancy. He was joined by his brother Antonin (1864-1931), and Daum's workshops soon became a meeting place and training 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.