[stag_toggle style=”normal” title=”Piece details” state=”closed”]“PARADISE MUSE” vase
Emil Gallé
1895
Colored, blown, layered, rip-striped glass; mineral intercalations[/stag_toggle]
The personality of Emile Gallé (1846 – 1904) dominates the history of glass art, not only from 1880 until the creator’s death in 1904, but also long after that, until the closure of the workshops that bore his name in 1936. With an artistic, technical and even scientific training, from internships in various European glassworks, such as that of Meisenthal, Emile Gallé is a complete artist, fully in control of his means. Founder of the “School of Nancy” and creator of the Art Nouveau style, Emile Gallé left behind a prodigious body of work, including enameled or cameo-painted vases, his famous “talking glassworks”, lamps, but also detailed descriptions of the complex techniques that he applied and perfected. Numerous distinctions, national or international, rewarded the creation of this brilliant pioneer.
The sources of inspiration are flowers, insects and minerals. The artist carefully studied the former, carefully reproducing their graceful petals, stems and winding tendrils. The insects – dragonflies, beetles, multicolored butterflies – are incorporated into the vitreous mass of the vessels. Minerals such as azurite or malachite are added to the viscous mass of molten glass to give, by their arrangement in different layers and through the diversity of color, an unparalleled decorative richness.
The industrial production started by Gallé in 1884 aims to make art accessible to people with modest incomes, thanks to the decrease in the prices of execution. Gallé designs simplified but very beautiful models, with vivid colors, through which he aims to avoid "falsehood and bizarreness". The industrial pieces are blown in a mold, in several layers of different colors and etched by acid attack, in successive stages, which gives them semi-relief and depth of decoration. By resuming the engraving on the wheel, the refinement and precision of the details are achieved.
The industrial production of the Gallé workshops was carried out under the direction of the artist until his death in 1904, then under that of his wife, until 1914. During the period 1904 – 1914, the pieces made were of good quality and perpetuated a large number of models made by Gallé. Madame Gallé added a star to the master's signature, which allowed for the removal of ambiguity and the dating of the pieces. After the First World War, Gallé's son-in-law, Perdrizet, resumed the business, which was liquidated in 1936, with the closure of the workshops.
An exceptionally valuable Gallé piece owned by the Peleş National Museum is the vase titled by the author "Paradisiac Musée". The base is circular, with a discoidal reflection, and the ovoid-elongated body is plastically treated, in purple gradients, with rips and gold-sprayed areas. Emile Gallé's technical acrobatics can be easily read on this unique piece. The artist applied several cycles of decoration, alternating with reheating, immersion in molten glass, followed by repeated blowing and modeling. The mineral inclusions interspersed between the layers of glass and the varied color, sometimes intense, sometimes delicate, create interesting optical effects. At the base of the body, the mention "Gallé fecit 1895" is engraved, and on the reverse of the meringue, the monogram "EG" with a Lorraine cross and the title of the piece: Paradisiac Musée.
