Gallé cameo vase
Art Nouveau glass from Nancy in which plants are etched out of layers of coloured glass.
Émile Gallé was both a botanist and an artist, and his glass is full of plants he studied. In the workshop in Nancy vases were made whose motifs were etched through several layers of glass.
After Gallé's death in 1904 production continued in his name until the 1930s. Glass with Gallé's signature and a star after the name was made after his death.
Materials: Cased glass in several colours
Manufacture: The glass is blown in layers; the pattern is protected with wax and the rest is etched away with acid.
The layers: the pattern lies in one colour on top of another.
Motifs from nature: leaves, flowers, dragonflies.
The signature Gallé, often etched or engraved into the pattern.