Libellules, An Enamelled and Bronze-Mounted Glass Vase

The glass by Emile Gallé, circa 1895
The mounts by Escalier de Cristal

Engraved mark Gallé, the bronze engraved on the underside ESCALIER DE CRISTAL

cf. Helmut Ricke, Eva Schmitt, Art Nouveau Glass, The Gerda Koepff Collection, Munich, 2004, p.109

The motif of two dragonflies in this configuration was employed on an example of faience by Gallé that featured at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle.

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At the 1900 Paris Exhibition, Gallé exhibited a similar commode called Ipomoea, which was well received, and is now in the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Its exhibition inspired the commission of the present commode, Nocturne, for the important collector Henry Hirsch of Nancy. Hirsch did not like the discrete marquetry on the Ipomoea commode, so requested something different. The same framework was used but the morning glories on the broad panels of the Ipomoea were replaced by chrysanthemums and a mother-of-pearl butterfly. It is believed that no other Nocturne commode was ever made and this piece can be regarded as an undiscovered treasure.