PAIR OF CORNER VITRINES, CIRCA 1895-1899
Mahogany, light mahogany. The frame, the uprights and panels are delicately sculpted with vegetal stylized trims
The hingers and keys in gilt bronze with a vegetal design
200 x 46.5 x 42 cm.
A comparable vitrine at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Bibliography
La Revue d’Art, 1ère année, November 1899, illustrated on a photograph
Provenance
Hotel Guimard built in 1910
Acquired directly by the merchants Plantin and Blondelin in the 1960s
Pierre Hebey, Paris
Cabinet d’expertises Camard, 2001
FIRESCREEN, CIRCA 1900
Carved walnut with inlaid panels of etched glass with clematis flowers and leaves
123.5 cm. high; 104.5 cm. wide
Bibliography
Frédéric Descouturelle, Eugène Vallin, Menuisier d’Art de l’Ecole de Nancy, Imprimerie Moderne, Pont-à-Mousson, 1998, a variation of the design ill. p. 209
Victor Arwas, Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic, Andreas Papadakis publisher, 2002, ill. p. 320
“TREFLE” LOWER TABLE, 1913
Padouk wood and walnut with four nesting tables
70 x 70 cm.
Another example of this design is in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Exhibition
SAD, Paris 1913
Bibliography
M. P.-Verneuil, Le Salon de la Société des Artistes Décorateurs, Art et Décoration, January 1913, p. 96
Laurence Buffet-Challié, Le Modern Style, Baschet et Cie éditeurs, Paris, n.d., ill. p. 53
Anne-Marie Quette, Le Mobilier Français – Art Nouveau 1900, éditions Massin, 1995, ill. p. 57
“AUX CAMPANULES” NEST OF FOUR OCCASIONAL TABLES, CIRCA 1900
Graduated in size, sculpted wood, the tops inlaid in various woods, including rosewood, with magnolia, daisies and other flowers and leaves
Each signed Gallé
The largest: 75 cm. high; 70.5 cm. wide; 42 cm. deep
Bibliography
A table with the same sculpted decor is illustrated in: Gallé furniture, Antique collectors club, 2012, p. 174
THREE-LEAF SCREEN, CIRCA 1899
Rosewood and embroidered felt. Carved Art Nouveaud design
The panels in green felt, decoration of stylized water lilies
135 cm. high
137 cm. wide
RARE AND IMPORTANT CABINET, CIRCA 1900
Exotic marquetry inlaid wood, decorated with dragonflies and flowers, the front adorned with a dragonfly in relief
Signed
137 cm. high; 83 cm. wide; 44 cm. deep
Bibliography
Alastar Duncan, Georges de Bartha, Gallé Furniture, Antique Collectors’ club, 2012, ill. p. 292
“BERCE DES PRES” LADIES DESK, CIRCA 1900
Variation of “Les Ombellules” desk exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1900
Exotic marquetry inlaid wood, with botanical decor
With its key in gilt bronze
Signed GALLE
Bearing a paper label from the 1950/1960s on which can be read “N°7399 – Salle des Ventes – Santé
Frères et Cie – Pau » with the lot number, its description, the name of the buyer and the price
(the company Santé Frères et Cie put an end to its public sales in 1970)
157 cm. high ; 77 cm. wide ; 55 cm. deep
Exhibition
Exposition Universelle, Paris 1900. A design, which can be compared to our desk, titled “Les Ombellules” by Emile Gallé himself in a publication at the time, was shown by the artist during the event.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris. A “Les Ombellules” desk, comparable to ours, is in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay (inventory OAO 1467 coming from the Rispal donation)
Provenance
This desk was acquired by the former owner at a public auction in the 1950/1960s from the Salle des Ventes Santé Frères et Cie, rue Emile Garet in Pau. This company, which started out with public auction sales, simultaneously as a transporter, right after the post-war years, enrolled a notary or a court bailiff, but lost the office in 1970 when the French government appointed a ministerial officer as an auctioneer in Pau.
TEA TABLE, CIRCA 1900
Exotic wood
Two-tiered; the first decorated with sheep and their shepherd in the sunset, the second embellished with hydrangeas and butterflies
Signed on the top shelf
83 cm. high; 84 cm. wide; 52 cm. deep
TABLE, CIRCA 1900
Exotic wood
Removable upper tray
Decorated with aquatic plants and waterlilies on the upper part; flowers, waterlilies and a small frog on the lower part
Signed on upper and lower shelves
82 cm. high; 60 cm. wide; 41.5 cm. deep
VERY RARE STORAGE CABINET, CIRCA 1897
Marquetry panels decorated with irises
Rounded shape and shelves on the side, four drawers, handles in bronze
With its key
Signed in marquetry on a leaf at the bottom to the right
130 cm. high; 80 cm. wide; 35 cm. deep
Early Gallé work, never seen on the market
Not recorded in major contemporary books on Gallé
“LA FORÊT LORRAINE” DESK, CIRCA 1900
Exotic marquetry inlaid wood
108 cm. high; 72 cm. wide; 50 cm. deep
Bibliography
An identical model is illustrated in the catalogue L’Ecole de Nancy, Art Nouveau et industrie d’Art, Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, 2018, p. 96
Alastar Duncan, Georges de Bartha, Gallé Furniture, Antique Collectors’ club, 2012, ill. p. 239
“OMBELLES” CHAIRS, CIRCA 1900
Pair of carved walnut chairs
Signed
95 x 47 x 43.3 cm
Bibliography
A. Duncan, Art Nouveau furniture, p. 258, pl. 1.
Philippe Garner, Emile Gallé, 1976, p. 23-24, p. 89
Ministère de la Culture – Edition de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Gallé, 1985, pp. 279-280
Bernd Hakenjos, Emile Gallé, catalog, vol. II, p. 174, n. 329
“AUX LIBELLULES ET PAPILLONS” CONSOLE, CIRCA 1900
Sculpted walnut and exotic wood marquetry, mother-of-pearl inlay and bronze
Signed
138 cm. high; 74 cm. wide; 46 cm. deep
Only one variant of the design is recorded
Bibliography
A. Duncan and G. de Bartha, Gallé Furniture, Antique Collector’s Club, 2012, a variant ill. p. 272, pl. 4
RARE CHAIR IN SCULPTED WALNUT, CIRCA 1900
After the design by Louis Hestaux
94 cm. high
Bibliography Fin de siècle Masterpieces from the Silverman collection, New York, Abbeville Press, p. 75 Gallé furniture, Antique Collectors Club Ltd, 2012, ill. p. 259
Provenance
Formerly in the collection of Benedict Silverman, New York
SALON SUITE, CIRCA 1900
Carved mahogany; comprising:
One sofa, two armchairs, two chairs
The sofa: 93 cm. high; 161.5 cm. wide
Each armchair: 101 cm. high; 64 cm. wide
Each chair: 92.5 cm. high; 46 cm. wide
Exhibition
Another example of this salon suite was exhibited at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, Paris, in Siegfried Bing’s pavilion, L’Art Nouveau Bing, with a multitude of artworks including jewellery by Edward Colonna and other furniture and decorative objects by Georges de Feure, Eugène Gaillard and Marcel Bing
DISPLAY TABLE, TWO CHAIRS AND TWO ARMCHAIRS, 1899
Ash and maple veneer
The table: 76 cm. high; 112.7 cm. long; 58.2 cm. deep
Each chair: 92.5 cm. high; 45.5 cm. wide
Each armchair: 96 cm. high; 67.7 cm. wide
Bibliography
L’Art Décoratif, November 1899, the table and a chair ill. p. 70
Provenance
Specially commissioned by the menswear shop “Roddy”, corner of the boulevard des Italiens and rue Drouot in Paris
CHAIR, CIRCA 1900
Carved walnut, tooled, embossed and patinated leather
The model was first presented in the Art Nouveau Bing pavillon at the Exposition Universelle of 1900
105.5 cm. high
Exhibition
Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1900
Bibliography Art et Décoration, August 1900, ill. p. 43 (the leather with a different design)
Renate Ulmer, Art Nouveau Symbolismus und Jugendstil in Frankreich, Arnoldsche, 1999, ill. p. 144, n. 132 (the leather with a different design)
