An Applied and Enamelled Glass Mosque Lamp
By Emile Gallé, circa 1880
In the Islamic style, with enamelled signature E. Gallé à Nancy Déposé DC, with retailer's paper label
10 ¾ in (27.3 cm) high
Exhibited
Broadfield House Glass Museum, West Midlands, England, 'Gallé: A Centenary' 21 August 2004 – 30 January 2005
cf. Stefano Carboni, and David Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans, 2001, p.299
Carl Johann Lamm, Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeeiten aus dem Nahen Osten, 1929, vol.II, pl.129.3
10 ¾ in (27.3 cm) high
Exhibited
Broadfield House Glass Museum, West Midlands, England, 'Gallé: A Centenary' 21 August 2004 – 30 January 2005
cf. Stefano Carboni, and David Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans, 2001, p.299
Carl Johann Lamm, Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeeiten aus dem Nahen Osten, 1929, vol.II, pl.129.3
Gallé must have seen Ayyubid-Mamluk originals in Germany as well as in his native France. The motif of the mounted archer shooting backwards, as seen on this piece, is consistent with figural types on Ayyubid-Mamluk enamelled wares of the 13th century. See, for example, a 13th-century enamelled beaker in the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden, which shows equestrian archers shooting over the haunches of their mounts. Gallé adapted these prototypical forms and arrived at something bold, original and vibrant.
