circa 1885
“Art for art’s sake” was a belief strongly espoused by the celebrated French designer and glassworker Émile Gallé. Through his ethereal glass vases, other vessels and lamps, which he adorned with botanical and religious motifs, Gallé advanced the Art Nouveau ideology and led the modern renaissance of French glass.
Gallé was the son of successful faience and furniture maker Charles Gallé but studied philosophy and botany before coming to glassmaking later in life. The young Gallé’s expertise in botany, however, would inform his design style and become his signature for generations to come.
After learning the art of glassmaking, Gallé went to work at his father’s factory in Nancy. He initially created clear glass objects but later began to experiment with layering deeply colored glass.
While glassmakers on Murano had applied layers of glass and color on decorative objects before Gallé had, he was ever-venturesome in his northeastern France, taking advantage of defects that materialized during his processes and etching in natural forms like insects such as dragonflies, marine life, the sun, vines, fruits and flowers modeled from local specimens.
Gallé is also credited with reviving cameo glass, a glassware style that originated in Rome. He used cabochons, which were applied raised-glass decorations colored with metallic oxides and made to resemble rich jeweling. Gallé's cameo glass vases and vessels were widely popular at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, cementing his position as a talented designer and pioneer.
During the late 19th century, Gallé led breakthroughs in mass production and employed hundreds of artisans in his workshop.
Botany and nature remained great sources of inspiration for the artist's glassmaking — just as they had for other Art Nouveau designers. From approximately 1890 to 1910, the movement’s talented designers produced furniture, glass and architecture in the form of — or adorned with — gently intertwining trees, flowers and vines. But Gallé had many interests, such as Eastern art and ceramics. The Japanese collection he visited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (then the South Kensington Museum) during the 1870s had made an impression too.
Breaking free from the rigid Victorian traditions, Gallé infused new life and spirit into the art and design of his time through exquisitely crafted glass vessels and pioneering new glassworking techniques.
Find a collection of Émile Gallé vases and other furniture and decorative objects on 1stDibs.
Vase with a Damselfly
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
Vase with a Damselfly by Émile GALLE (1846-1904) A rare shell-shaped vase made in blue glass with an enamelled decor ornated with a damselfly flying over water lilies. Signed " Ga...
Blown Glass
Vase Cristallerie with plants and butterfly
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
Cristallerie with plants and butterfly by Emile GALLE (1846-1904) Vase called "Cristallerie de Gallé" with plants and butterfly decoration. Gadrooned smoked glass, decorated with op...
Glass
A "Moonlight" Cristallerie Vase with Damselfly
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
A "Moonlight" Cristallerie Vase with Damselfly by Emile GALLE (1846-1904) Vase called "Cristallerie de Gallé" Vase with rounded body and squared collar, Ornated with a damselfly an...
Blown Glass
Cristallerie Vase with Cherry flower branches
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
Cristallerie Vase with Cherry flower branches by Emile GALLE (1846-1904) Vase called "Cristallerie de Gallé" Vase with rounded body and squared collar, Gadrooned smoked glass, orna...
Glass
"Bellflowers" Vase
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
"Bellflowers" Vase by Émile GALLE (1846-1904) A very rare shell-shaped vase, double-layered blown glass with powder and silver foil inclusions. Wheel-carved cameo decoration ornate...
Blown Glass
Exceptional vase "Marquetry with butterflies"
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
Exceptional vase "Marquetry with butterflies" by Emile GALLE (1846-1904) Baluster shaped vase raised on a rounded foot Multi-layered blown-molded glass, ornated with deep engraved ...
Glass
Large Emile Galle Art Nouveau Vase, Orchidees & Abeille, Nancy, France, Ca 1890
By Émile Gallé
Located in Vienna, AT
Excellent early Art Nouveau cup-shaped vase: Conical body pressed into an oval cross-section on a bell-shaped, curved round base, colorless thick-walled glass with milky white opale...
Glass
Émile Gallé Art Nouveau Enamel Soliflore w/ Dragonfly & Thistles, Nancy, c. 1900
Located in New York, NY
Art Nouveau Émile Gallé Dragonfly and Thistles Soliflore (Bud Vase) Multi-Color Enamel over Clear Art Glass Nancy, France Circa 1900 DIMENSIONS Height: 3.25 inches Max. Diameter: 2.75 inches Opening Diameter: 0.75 inches MARKINGS Signed in enamel at the base, bearing the mark “E. Gallé de Nancy.” MATERIALS Multi-color enamel on clear art glass CONDITION Excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, or restorations. ABOUT “The aim of my work is the study of nature, the love of nature's art and the need to express what one feels in one's heart.” – Emile Gallé A rare and exquisite cabinet-sized soliflore by Émile Gallé, exemplifying the highest artistic standards of early French Art Nouveau. The vase displays an exceptional and sculpturally sophisticated form—its body conceived as a sphere discreetly contained within a smaller cube—resulting in sensuously rounded, perfectly balanced contours that are both visually arresting and elegantly understated. The clear glass body is decorated with finely rendered, hand-applied enamels depicting a dragonfly in flight among mountain grasses and thistles—a lyrical theme central to Gallé’s celebration of the natural world. The composition is executed with subtle tonal gradations and refined brushwork, capturing both the delicate movement and the ephemeral beauty of the scene. A museum-quality example, notable for its rare form, poetic decoration, and intimate scale. A superb addition to any serious Art Nouveau or Gallé collection. ABOUT ARTIST Émile Gallé Gallé (French, 1846 – 1904) Emile Galle was a French glass and ceramic designer who combined art and botany. Most of his glass vases are created in Art Nouveau style. Born on May 4, 1846 in Nancy, France, Émile Gallé seemed destined for a career in glassmaking. Nancy was well-established for its glass artistry, and his father, Charles Gallé was an established faïence (ceramic) and glassmaker with his own successful manufactory, the Maison Gallé-Reinemer. It would be here under the guidance of his father that the young Emile began to learn the art of glassmaking while simultaneously indulging his academic interests in philosophy, botany and chemistry. In 1867, Gallé joined his father working full-time at the Maison. Gallé's glasswork, even at its earliest stages, was heavily influenced by nature, with his very first pieces incorporating enameled floral motifs painted upon clear glass. He was an avid botanist his entire life, collecting plants, flowers, and insects from which to study and draw inspiration. He was even elected Secretary-General for Nancy's Société centrale d'horticulture. Gallé traveled throughout Europe studying works at museums and private institutions, gaining insight from ancient glass antiquities to Japonesque masterpieces, and everything in between. It would be Gallé’s trip to the British Museum in 1871 that would alter the course of his art career. Enamored by the famed ancient Roman cameo glass...
Art Glass
Émile GALLÉ, Plant holder with dragonflies, circa 1880
By Émile Gallé
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
This small zoomorphic planter was created by Émile Gallé around 1880. Considered the founding father of Art Nouveau, Émile Gallé took over the factory founded by his father and gave...
Ceramic
Harrach Bohemian Art Glass Vase, Gilt Butterfly & Floral Enamel C. 1900
By Harrach Glassworks
Located in Atlanta, GA
This exquisite art glass vase was produced by the renowned Harrach Glassworks, one of the oldest and most esteemed glass manufacturers in Bohemia, known for their exceptional craftsm...
Enamel
Large vase with butterflies by C.Schneider, Le Verre Français, France circa 1925
By Le Verre Francais, Charles Schneider
Located in Paris, FR
A large vase with handles in acid-etched multi-layered glass, with rotating butterfly decoration, red and speckled navy blue butterflies on a yellow and sky-blue marmorated ground. S...
Glass
Grapevine Vase by Clement Massier, Art Nouveau c. 1900
By Clement Massier
Located in Chicago, IL
Ceramic vase in a blue and green metallic lustre glaze by master of iridescence Clement Massier, with clusters of grapes and leaves in deep purple. Signed MCM in the base, and number...
Ceramic
