Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 127
A signed Emile Gallé 'Persian-style' gilded and enamelled glass bottle and stopper France, 19th Century
22 May 2025, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£12,000 - £18,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A signed Emile Gallé 'Persian-style' gilded and enamelled glass bottle and stopper
France, 19th Century
France, 19th Century
of piriform, the shoulders tapering to a tall narrow neck with everted rim, a handle to shoulder to either side of neck, the stopper of flaring form, profusely decorated in polychrome enamel and gilt to the body with two lobed cartouches containing figures on horseback on a ground of foliate interlace, interspersed by scrolling foliate tendrils, all on a ground of foliate interlace, the the neck and stopper with further foliate interlace, signed and inscribed 'EG Emile Gallé à Nancy ...' near base
19.1 cm. high
19.1 cm. high
Footnotes
Emile Gallé (1846-1904) was a French glass-maker who took over the family business when his father retired in 1874. His pieces gained widespread recognition and were acquired by prominent collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Russian and Danish royal families (S. Carboni and D. Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans, New York, 2001, p. 299).
Gallé soon began experimenting with enamels, writing to the jury of the Paris exposition in 1889: 'Since 1878, I have devoted myself continually to to developing a palette that would allow me to decorate glass with the aid of colours and low-temperature vitrifiable enamels...I also developed reflecting colours by mixing them with hard Arabian enamels. Finally, in 1884, I produced for the Union Centrale des Arts Decoratifs a new series of transparent enamels in relief...I therefore present you today with the results of my continued research: opaque enamels with artificial and bizarre colours, muted nuances designed to add 'spice' to an already impressive array of colours. You will note the opaque enamels coloured with gold preparations that produce pinks and lilacs that lend themselves to equally interesting work.' (S. Carboni and D. Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans, New York, 2001, p. 300).
Gallé must have encountered Mamluk originals. The motif of the mounted archer turning to fire behind him, in addition to mounted figures engaged in other pursuits depicted in similar poses, is consistent with those found on Ayyubid-Mamluk enamelled glass. For example, an enamelled glass bottle in The Metropolitan Museum, New York (Object N. 41.150) features mounted warriors on horseback, including archers. A Mamluk enamelled lamp in The Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Accession No. 330-1900) also features a mounted figure in the characteristic turning pose. Furthermore, the polo players on a vase in the Museum für Islamische Kunstare, Berlin, are similarly depicted (Inv. No. I.2573).
For a comparable bottle and stopper sold at Christie's New York, see Christie's Interiors, 14 Jan 2009, lot 600. Some further examples of enamelled Gallé glass sold at auction include Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets, 27 October 2020, lot 515; Christie's New York, Christie's Interiors, 14 January 2009, lot 629; and Bonhams Los Angeles, 20th Century Decorative Arts, 29 September 2009, lot 1064.