Émile Gallé "L'Hippocampe" Vase
Regular price
$75,000
This exquisite underwater vase, designed by Louis Hestaux for Émile Gallé, depicts a sleeping seahorse, its prehensile tail gently curled around a strand of the brown seaweed Gongolaria baccata. The eyes of the sea creatures are fashioned from cabochons backed with red, gold, and black foil, lending them a lustrous, lifelike depth. The collar brims with seaweed and periwinkle shells, while the ocean floor is scattered with European lobsters and pale crustacean remains. A diagonal sweep of darting fish energizes the composition, animating the watery realm. The amber-opalescent glass is etched with diagonal striations, suggesting swirling ocean currents, and under direct light the shallow engravings cast shimmering reflections reminiscent of sunlight refracted beneath the waves.
The vase is constructed through meticulous glass layering, creating visual depth and allowing for nuanced color transitions that heighten the naturalism of each motif. The base layer, in warm safranée glass, emits a saffron-like golden glow, while the modeled motifs are sculpted from a deep ruby glass evocatively referred to as ensanglanté, or “bloodied glass.”
Item #: YG-21693
Artist: Émile Gallé
Country: France
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 12.5" height, 5" diameter.
Materials: Glass
Signed: Gallé
Item #: YG-21693
Artist: Émile Gallé
Country: France
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 12.5" height, 5" diameter.
Materials: Glass
Signed: Gallé
Gallé collected and preserved a variety of seaweed and shell specimens while in the Keller villa. Charles Keller (alias Jacques Turbin) was an anarchist, activist, poet and archaeologist. Keller had built a seafront villa in Carnac, Brittany after the excavation in 1862 of the Saint-Michel Tumulus, a megalithic grave mound. He regularly invited Gallé to this seaside retreat, and even when Gallé returned to Nancy, Keller was sure to send new species to add to Gallé's burgeoning herbarium.
Gallé collected and preserved a variety of seaweed and shell specimens while in the Keller villa. Charles Keller (alias Jacques Turbin) was an anarchist, activist, poet and archaeologist. Keller had built a seafront villa in Carnac, Brittany after the excavation in 1862 of the Saint-Michel Tumulus, a megalithic grave mound. He regularly invited Gallé to this seaside retreat, and even when Gallé returned to Nancy, Keller was sure to send new species to add to Gallé's burgeoning herbarium.
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