Emile Gallé - RED SQUARE DESIGN

Transcription

Emile Gallé
The Bowes Museum
Barnard Castle
County Durham DL12 8NP
01833 690606
www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk
[email protected]
Registered charity No. 1079639
© The Bowes Museum
ISBN 0-9548182-6-7
Cover image:
Emile Gallé, enamelled glass bottle, 1896
© Glasgow City Council (Museums)
The Bowes Museum
Emile Gallé and the Origins of Art Nouveau
and the Origins of Art Nouveau
Emile Gallé
Emile Gallé
Howard Coutts
Chairman’s Foreword
A
n exquisite treasure of The Bowes Museum is an elegant fluted glass vase, engraved with two amorous
pigeons on a branch in a tree. The inscription, in 18th century French, deux pigeons s’amoient d’amour tendre
is composed of letters formed of single flower petals and identify it as being from a fable by the French author
La Fontaine. The fable is about two pigeons, one of whom decides to travel to the heartbreak of his mate and
damage to his own personal health. Like many objects in the Museum, it may have had a personal resonance for
its first owner, the French actress Joséphine Bowes, who bought it directly from the glass maker Emile Gallé in
1871. She and her husband John Bowes met him at an International Exhibition in London, having escaped from
the Franco-Prussian War, while continuing work on, and collecting for, the great museum in Teesdale that bears
their name. Joséphine was often in bad health and did not enjoy the seacrossing to England. She found it hard
to join her husband on his business journeys to County Durham. When they died (Joséphine in 1874 and John
in 1885) they left enough money for the Museum to open in 1892 and continue its existence into the first half of
the twentieth century.
By the end of the Second World War, The Bowes Museum was exhausted financially, but recognised as
having the major collection of European fine and decorative arts in the North of England. It was then that the
administration was taken over by Durham County Council, perhaps with the discreet prompting of John Bowes’
kinswoman Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, a keen supporter throughout her long life. When in turn the
direct role of the County Council came to an end in the year 2000, it fell to me as the Chairman of the new
Bowes Museum Trust to develop its full potential into the 21st century.
The exhibition, Emile Gallé and the Origins of Art Nouveau is one of a number the Museum has organised in
recent years under its Director, Adrian Jenkins, that take a theme from The Bowes Museum’s origins and history
and develops it through loans and research into a topic of wider national and international significance. The staff
of The Bowes Museum work with enthusiasm making their contribution to the local, national and increasingly
international cultural scene. There is no doubt that they will continue to reveal the importance of The Bowes
Museum to the people of North East England, and lovers of fine and decorative arts everywhere.
Viscount Eccles
Chairman, Trustees of The Bowes Museum
Emile Gallé. Engraved glass vase, 1871. Height 16cm.
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham
3
Director’s Preface
A
mong the many treasures of The Bowes Museum is a beautiful engraved glass ‘cabaret’ set for scented
orange water, called by the French a ‘verre d’eau’ (literally ‘glass of water’), that has been in the Museum since
its foundation in the 19th century. During the 1970s letters were found in the Museum archives that identified it
as one of the first known commissions from the famous glass maker, Emile Gallé, by the Museum’s foundress,
Joséphine Bowes, in 1872. Gallé’s letters to Joséphine, reproduced in an appendix at the back, contain some of
his first known writings on art and in them he states that when I pick a flower, I pick a model and an idea. When
I model a new project, I am really dreaming of some unknown flower. When it is considered that Gallé became
famous twenty year later as the leading exponent of the sinuous botanical style called ‘Art Nouveau’, it will be
seen that Joséphine’s taste was way in advance of that of most of her contemporaries.
4
Oddly enough, another source for the botanical form of Art Nouveau survives in the Museum’s archives: the
cover for a book on Streatlam Castle, the English home of the Bowes, commissioned after Joséphine’s death by
her grieving husband John Bowes in 1879-1880. The device of an elongated and sinuous arum lily (Zantedeschia
aethiopica) and wilting flower on the cover – reproduced opposite – suggests the French were not the first to
devise the elongated botanical style that became known as ‘Art Nouveau’ throughout Europe in the 1890s. The
designer of the cover is not known, but the trial copy of the cover in the Museum archives is inscribed ‘wrapper
not ordered’, suggesting that it is simply a device from the printers, Harrison of Pall Mall. This would suggest
that continental ‘Art Nouveau’ did indeed owe a great debt to the English ‘Aesthetic Movement’ of the 1880s, as
has often been supposed, but in England it was an altogether more populist affair.
We have taken these sources as the inspiration for this publication and the exhibition Emile Gallé and the Origins
of Art Nouveau held at The Bowes Museum in 2007. This is not a topic that the Bowes Museum could develop
from its collections alone, and we are most grateful to many lenders, headed by the Anderson Collection of
Art Nouveau at the University of East Anglia, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Pavilion, Art Gallery &
Museums, Brighton & Hove, the British Museum and many other museums, and private collections headed by
Victor and Gretha Arwas, who made the exhibition possible. I am grateful to the curatorial team headed by our
curator of ceramics, Dr. Howard Coutts, and our exhibitions team, headed by Vivien Reid, for the time and effort
they put into this. Dr.Coutts did much of his research as a Visiting Scholar at St.Catharine’s College, Cambridge,
in 2005. In turn they have benefited from much outside help, including that of Alex Carlson for labelling, and
Jo Angell and Margaret Harley for research and translation of the archive material. We are particularly indebted
to Professor David Ingram, former Regius Keeper of The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and then Master
of St.Catharine’s College, Cambridge, for his interpretation and discussion of flowers and plants depicted. We
hope that The Bowes Museum has been able, through its unusual mixture of objects, and documents held in its
archives, to throw new light on a subject that has attracted much attention in recent years.
Adrian Jenkins
Director, The Bowes Museum
Annotated cover of the book Streatlam Castle in the
County of Durham,1880. The Bowes Museum.
5
French decorative arts
1. Silver vase on exhibition in Paris,
1819, from the commemorative volume
Modèles d’Orfèvrerie
2. Sèvres porcelain gothic-shaped vase
with Renaissance-style decoration bought
by the King’s sister, Madame Adélaïde in
1839. Height 40.5 cm. The Bowes Museum,
Barnard Castle, County Durham
3. Pair of Sèvres porcelain vases Adélaïde
specially commissioned from the factory
by the Englishman Samuel Scott in 1849.
The choice of flowers is 18th century, but
the blue ’ground’ is brighter than the 18th
century examples. Height 41cm. The Bowes
Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham
6
1
French decorative arts
dominated European taste
thoughout the 17th and
18th centuries. The
impetus was led by
the state factories
of the Gobelins (for
tapestries) and Sèvres
(for porcelain), set up
to furnish royal palaces
and provide royal
gifts for the King and
his court. When royal
patronage was abolished
at the time of the
Revolution, the impetus
continued with public
exhibitions of decorative arts
at the Louvre and elsewhere,
exhibiting the very best of
French craftsmanship and
industrial production, and
included the finest wares
3
made or commissioned for
private patrons and retailers alike.
The court under Napoleon I (1804-1814) and his successors Louis XVIII (1814/15-24),
Charles X (1824-1830), Louis Philippe (1830-1848) and Napoleon III (1852-1870)
continued state support for the Gobelins and Sèvres, and refurnished the palaces to
a high standard.
It is not easy to find any common aim in this production. Though the court might
apparently promote a single strand of taste – most obviously, Classicism at the Court
of Napoleon I – a desire for novelty and demonstration of skill seem to have been
the overwhelming purpose. Design sources might be ‘mixed and matched’ to reflect
different centuries and cultures. A major aspect was the use of fine materials – gilt
bronze, marquetry, porcelain, ivory, and semi-precious stones – in such a way as to
bring out the individual qualities of the material, even if it was at the expense of a
visually harmonious whole. Refinement of execution mattered more than practicality
or construction. These were expensive items, made in small quantity. When, in the
mid 19th century, the French were called upon to exhibit at the great international
exhibitions of the day – London in 1851, Paris in 1855, London in 1862 and Paris
in 1867 – they were well-equipped to send a superb variety of national and local
production that was the spoken and unspoken envy of the rest of Europe.
2
4. The 18th century square
in Nancy. From a postcard
of 1905
5. Charles Gallé’s work on
show at the Paris International
Exhibition, 1855
4
6. St.Clément faience plant
pot (jardinière) with 18th
century style decoration,
probably retailed by
Charles Gallé, c.1871.
Height 18.8cm The Bowes
Museum, Barnard Castle,
County Durham
5
These luxury items marked a standard for all to aspire to, and for no-one more so
than the china and glass dealer Charles Gallé (1818-1902). He worked in the historic
but provincial town of Nancy on the border of eastern France, best known for its
refurbishment by its 18th century King, Stanislas Leszczynski, who reconstructed
the main square with magnificent wrought iron gates. Gallé’s marriage to Fanny
Reinemer (1825-1891) in 1845, daughter of a ceramics dealer, strengthened his
place in the world of china-dealing and he used their names together. A particular
line was the production of individually monogrammed or decorated services
for the rich. Nancy was in the major manufacturing area of Lorraine, on the
borders with Germany, and he had the advantage of being able to work
with the local glass firm of Meisenthal, as well as other local firms such
as Baccarat and Saint Louis. Much of the decoration was done in his own
workshops of glass cutters, using factory blanks of standard form. He also
commissioned models from the local pottery factory of St. Clément, utilising or
reviving 18th century designs in the prestigious but old-fashioned technique of
‘faience’ (tin-glazed earthenware). The firm produced a pierced dessert service in
the style of ‘Good King Stanislas’ as early as 1864.
The highpoint of his career was a commission of a service of glass with the royal
monogram for Napoleon III, exhibited in the Paris International Exhibition of 1855,
as well as a ‘verre d’eau’ for the Empress Eugénie in 1861, comprising a carafe for
perfumed water, one or two glasses, a flask for orange water and a sugar bowl, all
on a matching tray. In 1866 he was appointed fournisseur (supplier) to the Emperor.
The delicate styles of the late 18th century were being revived, and the following
year Eugénie devoted a special exhibition to Queen Marie-Antoinette (executed in
1793) at her former home of the Trianon at the palace of Versailles, to coincide with
the international exhibition of 1867. The Empress had recently paid the vast sum of
£2400 at auction in 1865 for a desk that had belonged to the unfortunate Queen,
which was part of a general interest in collecting antiques and objets d’art from the
pre-Revolutionary era in this period.
6
7
Emile Gallé (1846-1904)
Into this enterprising and cultured family, Emile Gallé was born in 1846. He
learnt to read from Grandville’s Les Fleurs Animés, a volume of written and
visual personifications of flowers which instilled in him a sense of the expressive
possibilities of plant forms. From his earliest days he was aware of the beauty
of flowers, and later in life he wrote of his memories of his father’s house and
showroom that overlooked the flower market in Nancy. He could also have studied
plants at first hand at the Botanic Garden in Nancy, founded in 1752. It was run
by Dominique-Alexandre Godron, author of the six volumes Flore de France, who
reorganised and re-arranged the gardens. When Gallé was sent across the border to
study botany at the University of Weimar in Germany from 1865 to 1866, he copied
illustrations from Godron’s work, and throughout his career was acutely interested in
local flora and fauna, which he saw as inspirational as exotic plants.
7
8
On his return to Nancy, Gallé worked in ceramics with his father, supplying innovative
and novel designs, and assisting him in displays at the Paris International Exhibition
of 1867. His first glass came in 1867, a goblet enamelled with dots and ribbons in the
Venetian style. Many of his designs reflected his interest in botany, and the use of
botanical forms in decoration. Flower designs were often used in pottery patterns,
such as the Service herbier (plant service) of 1868-1876, where the plants trail across
the plate, and seem to have a life of their own. The plant images are sometimes
inscribed with rather whimsical mottoes, which gave voice to the flowers, so to
speak. A plate from the Allégorie service of 1871-1876 is decorated with a yellow
rose, and the inscription M’a piqué la plus belle (The most beautiful one pricked me),
a reference to the ambiguities of
love as much as the dangers
of gardening.
8
7. Dufey. Photograph of Emile Gallé, c.1889. Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, Nancy
8. Image of orange flower from J.J.Grandville, Les Fleurs Animées,1847 The Bowes Museum,
9. Emile Gallé. Enamelled glass of a type shown at the Paris International Exhibition, 1867.
Height 14.1cm. Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, Nancy
9
10
In 1871 two major events affected Gallé’s life. The first was the partition of France
after the Franco-Prussian war, with the resulting annexation of Alsace-Lorraine
(though not the town of Nancy itself) to Germany. This was a grievance for all
Frenchmen, and Gallé in particular, till redress came after the First World War. The
second was the London International Exhibition of that year, at which the firm of
Gallé Reinemer exhibited. The French section was opened by Joséphine Bowes,
Countess of Montalbo, a former Parisian actress who had married the English
landowner and businessman, John Bowes. She had formed a large collection of
paintings and objets d’art, and was building a huge Museum with the help of a
French architect to house her collection in her husband’s home town of Barnard
Castle in the North of England. She was especially interested in ceramics and
particularly French faience, of which she formed a large and varied collection.
Joséphine Bowes and the young Emile Gallé seem to have had an instant rapport,
and Joséphine purchased from him a quantity of items, including a pottery cat, a
plant pot, an inkstand and a mirror frame, which sadly are no longer in the Museum.
Letters in the archive show he also advised her to raise the roof of the Museum for
a more elegant design, which was done at a cost of £200. Though there is a certain
element of flattery in his dealings with Joséphine, he seems to have found her a
sympathetic patron, and felt free to express his interests and aims. He wrote to her
that ‘when I pick a flower, I pick a model and an idea. When I model a new project,
I am really dreaming of some unknown flower’ ‘(quand je cueille une fleur, je cueille
un modèle et une idée. Quand je modèle un projet nouveau, c’est que je rêve bien
sûr à quelque fleur inconnue. Letter of 18th September, 1871). Much of Gallé’s later
production thus seems encapsulated in this statement made nearly twenty years
before he was creating vases of floral form in the style that became known as
Art Nouveau.
10. Selection of table glass used by
John and Joséphine Bowes, including
an engraved decanter and glasses
(French, c.1860) and amber cut goblet
and decanter with coat-of-arms and
horse decoration, probably by Karl
Phöhl, c.1855. Height of goblet 17cm.
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle,
County Durham
11. Enamelled glass vase from
St. Petersburg, bought by Joséphine
Bowes from the Paris International
Exhibition, 1867
11
9
The complete designer
12. Emile Gallé. Engraved glass bonbonnière
bought by Joséphine Bowes, 1871-1872.
Height of bonbonnière 15.2cm. The Bowes
13. Emile Gallé. Engraved glass ‘verre d’eau’
commissioned by Joséphine Bowes, 1872.
Height of decanter 24.8cm. The Bowes
14
12
13
10
Joséphine also bought from him a glass bonbonnière, beautifully engraved with lace designs.
A fluted vase, engraved with the two pigeons from Lanfontaine’s fables, is also in the collection.
It is inscribed deux pigeons s’amoient d’amour tendre in letters that turn out to be formed of tiny
rose petals. She must have liked these objects so much that she commissioned specifically
from Gallé – one of his earliest documented commissions – what he described as a
‘cabaret set, style of Marie Antoinette, requested in the style of the bonbonnière, lace
and scattered blossoms of the period’ – in fact a ‘verre d’eau’, perhaps similar to the
one his father had supplied to the Empress Eugénie, comprising the standard two
decanters, cups and saucers, sugar box and tray. He supplied a very detailed
description of the commission, describing the two ‘Louis XVI goblets’ as
decorated with ‘billowing old Venice lace, and on the reverse, a crowd of
butterflies and blossoms. The sugar basin is wrapped in Valenciennes lace;
orange blossoms and Guipure lace decorate the liqueur bottle, Picot lace ribbons
and honeysuckle the water carafe’. He described it all as French workmanship, and
’since I myself have designed the form and decoration, carried out by my engravers
under my own eyes, I felt justified in adding my signature’ (ayant composé le dessin
des formes et de la décoration, exécutée sous mes yeux par mes graveurs, j’ai
cru pouvoir signer l’œuvre.). He also supplied, for her Museum, a piece of pottery,
originally intended to be a large jug or mug decorated with a patriotic Lorraine
theme, (‘Metz defended against Charles V, the German Emperor, by the duc de
Guise and 6000 Frenchmen. 1st January 1553’). This appears to have failed in the
kiln, and he ultimately sent her a jug in the Rouen style painted with the aforesaid
King Stanislas, standing in his square with the decorative ironwork behind him.
Sadly Joséphine Bowes died 1874, or who knows how the relationship would have
developed. However, her husband John was punctilious after her death in seeing that
the jug was properly sited in the Museum.
15
With time the young Emile came increasingly to wish to design not only the decoration,
but also the shape of the glass or pottery himself, which led to the production of
numerous quaint or decorative items. From 1872 he commissioned the blanks from
St. Clément, and also began a workshop for final decoration, with his signature, in the
family home in 1873 on its move to La Garenne on the outskirts of Nancy. In about
1877 he became designer manager of the firm, and ended the relationship with Saint
Clément, finding another supplier at Raon-l’Etape in 1879. The models were not always
his own personal design, and throughout his career Gallé commissioned models for
pottery and glass from his own team of designers, led by Victor Prouvé (1858-1943).
Court cases
Most interestingly, Gallé’s relationship with some of these pottery factories was
unsatisfactory, in that he accused them of pirating his designs. The problem seems
to have first appeared with the factory at St. Clément, that sold designs and models,
commissioned by Gallé, as their own, without the
17
additional Gallé mark, though no court case resulted from
this. In 1879-80 he prosecuted Keller and Guérin of
Lunéville for copying the designs of the Herbier and
Nuit japonaise patterns which he thought he had
patented in 1869, but lost the case on a technicality.
He successfully prosecuted Rigal and Sanejouand
of the Clairefontaine factory in 1880 for utilising
moulds of his that they claimed he had rejected. The
interest for us is that for the Herbier case, he had to
write down in detail how he conceived his designs.
He told his lawyer about how his work was based
on the French term herborisation, or creating a book
of plant specimens and ideas through walking in the
woods, collecting plants, and studying them under
a microscope, before adapting them to a design for
ceramic. Unlike most designers, Gallé’s knowledge of
plants was based on living or growing specimens, and gave
a personal slant to his plant designs, which he could truly
claim to be his own work.
14. Emile Gallé. Monogrammed faience
dessert service from Château du Champ de
Bataille, Normandy, c.1876. Length of basket
25cm. Private collection
15. Emile Gallé. Faience cup in imitation of
Niderviller faience from Château du Champ
de Bataille, Normandy, c.1876. Diameter 8cm.
County Durham
16. Emile Gallé. Faience jug depicting King
Stanislas presented by Gallé to Joséphine
Bowes for her Museum, 1872. Height 28.5cm.
County Durham
17. Emile Gallé. Faience bulb-pot from the
Château du Champ de Bataille, Normandy,
c.1876. Height 12.5 cm. The Bowes Museum,
16
11
Sources of inspiration
Gallé was a prolific writer, but most of his writing in his early days were devoted to
botany. In 1877 he became secretary of the newly-founded société centrale de
horticulture de Nancy, along with local experts Victor Lemoine, Léon Simon and
François Félix Crousse. Gallé’s choice of plant was grown in the ‘small mountain’
(petite montagne) there, where grew the huge umbels (ombellifères géantes) of
members of the plant family Umbelliferae, that much influenced him. This large
and complex family of aromatic plants includes many vegetables and herbs, such
as parsnip and parsley. Moreover, the feathery-leaved cow parsley (Anthriscus
sylvestris) that foams in the hedgerows and woodland margins of Britain and much of
northern Europe in spring, and the larger, coarser hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)
that also flourishes in hedgerows and on bare ground later in the summer, would both
have been familiar to Gallé, as would the later flowering rough chervil (Chaerophyllum
temulum), and possibly hemlock (Conium maculatum). The huge, highly invasive giant
hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) was introduced to Europe from the Caucasus
and south-west Asia as a garden plant in the 1890s, only later spreading to the wild,
notably along water courses. In 1880 Gallé edited the société’s catalogue of an exhibition
of botanical geography, and was appointed to the committee of the local botanic
gardens, in place of Dominique-Alexandre Godron.
21
20
More exhibitions
Japan and the East
12
However, another source of inspiration was in the ascendant that revolutionized all
Western art, both fine and decorative. This was the fashion for all things Japanese. It had
allegedly started with the coming over of Japanese woodcut prints used as wrapping
paper in the 1860s. Joséphine Bowes bought a volume of these, as well as some small
Japanese cabinets, possibly from the Paris exhibition of 1867. In decorative arts the
influence was seen most famously in 1867 with the
pottery service designed by Félix Bracquemond
(1833-1914) exhibited at the Paris International
Exhibition, which used motifs from Japanese prints.
This was highly successful, and represented competition
for Gallé’s production at Nancy. In glass it was
represented by Auguste Jean (worked c.1855-c.1885)
and Eugène Rousseau (1827-1891), both of whom had
already been patronized by Joséphine Bowes. They
produced some strange compressed shapes that might
be the starting point for much of Gallé’s later production.
It should be emphasized that one of the attractions of
Japanese art was its apparent naturalism and spontaneity.
Another strong influence of the time was Islamic art, which
led to an emphasis on strong colours and pattern-making,
with experimentation in colours and techniques in an attempt
to emulate historic techniques. The lead here was given by
the ceramicists Léon Parvillé (died 1885) and Théodore Deck
(1823-1891), and in glass by Philippe-Joseph Brocard
19
(died 1896).
18
18. Emile Gallé. Three handled vase.
Clear glass with enamelled flowers.
Mark: ‘deposé’ ‘Emile Gallé pour
honeur’ on bottom. Diameter
(maximum) 12cm, height 16cm.
Glasgow City Council (Museums)
(1896.36.d) purchased from Halstaff and
Hannaford, Regent Street, 1896
19. Eugène Rousseau. Porcelain vase
with ‘pâte-sur-pâte’ decoration, bought
by Joséphine Bowes. Height 12cm.
County Durham. The raised decoration
was built up through the application of
layers of applied porcelain paste, fired
on separate occasions.
The exact dating and development of Gallé’s work can be difficult to trace, as
dateable models are rare, and much has to be reconstructed from his writings. He
showed at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878, where he won a bronze medal.
An innovation was the colour clair-de-lune (moonlight) blue in glass, produced
from cobalt oxide. In 1884 he won a gold medal at the Paris exhibition of the Union
Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. This was an organisation set up for the improvement of
decorative arts and manufactures in France, and led eventually to the founding of the
Musée des Arts Décoratifs in a Pavilion of the Louvre Museum. Gallé wrote about
his wares, describing new techniques such as double and triple-layered ‘cameo’
glass, which could be cut on the wheel to show the colour below, or ‘acid-etched’
to the same effect. He was also working on imitations of stones, and metal leaf
inclusions and air bubbles. He also showed items decorated with the more traditional
techniques of coloured enamels and engravings. Some vases actually had specific
themes, with names reflecting their subject matter – La Nuit (night) Le Silence or
Le Sommeil (sleep) – the last with intaglio figures under clouds of black glass. He
made great use of flowers and botanical forms and decoration, sometimes with the
appropriate fauna, and showed one vase on the theme of the creation of insects,
depicting the life cycle of a butterfly.
These vases were obviously far beyond what had been created before in the sense
of flower or decorative vases. They were essentially attempts to create poetry
in glass, creating a mood through the use of colour and decoration. The link was
made clear by his use of lines of poetry etched on the glass from Symbolist and
other poets, such as Francois Villon (15th century) or Maurice Rollinat (1853-1903),
creating the so-called verrerie parlante or glass that speaks, to awaken sentiments
in the soul. Gallé wrote later that ‘symbols are the points where ideas materialize
themselves’ (les symbols sont les pointes ou se concrètent les idées).
20. Emile Gallé. Group of ‘cameo’ glass
vases, featuring a tall vase with flowers
of Wisteria. Height of tallest 30.5cm.
The Anderson Collection of Art
Nouveau. University of East Anglia
21. Pair of Chinese ‘cameo’ glass vases,
c.1830. Height 22.2cm.
County Durham
22. Gallé vase with gilt bronze mounts
by Falize entitled ‘the beauty of things
that must die’, from The Magazine of
Art, 1897
22
13
Gallé the exhibitor
Success at the 1884 exhibition led
Gallé to develop his own production
in workshops on site at Nancy in
the rue de la Garenne. In 1885 an
oven was set up for full ceramic
production, and a furniture workshop
was installed. The workshops were
close to the family home on the
outskirts of Nancy, and even had
their own gardens as inspiration
for the workers. However, for
25
the moment production of glass
continued, using specially commissioned blanks from the firm of Meisenthal, though
finishing took place at Nancy itself. Ceramic production of routine items continued at
Raon-l’Etape until 1900.
23
14
24
23. Gallé vase featuring Orpheus and Eurydice
at the Paris International Exhibition of 1889,
Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1889. The subject
symbolized the loss of Lorraine to France.
The design was by Victor Prouvé.
24. Gallé vase at the Paris International
Exhibition of 1889, from the Gazette des
Beaux-Arts, 1889
25. Emile Gallé. Drawing for a vase with
hellebore (resembling Helleborus orientalis)
decoration. Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, Nancy
The peak of Gallé’s achievement came in 1889 with the Paris International Exhibition
of that year. It showed his style (or styles) at its most fully formed. Though many
of his pieces still looked to the past, or to other countries, the dominant theme was
by now clearly botanical, with the free flowing plant-like form, both in shape and
applied design, known today as Art Nouveau. He wrote at the time ‘I have formed at
my factory a workshop for composition and special design for my glass production.
Under my direct supervision, this workshop is the dynamo for others. There are
executed the turning of wooden moulds for glass blowing, and designs or cartoons
for enamellers, engravers and painters. Numerous natural specimens, dead or alive,
are at the disposal of the workshop, thanks to the factory garden and its collections
of natural history. My personal involvement consists above all in devising ideas for
glass that are both sublime or tender, of carefully composing friendly or tragic faces
for it, of assembling the different elements, of preparing in advance the realisation of
my future works, of matching the technique to the preconceived work, of balancing
the risks between success and failure, whilst carrying out the decisive operation that
would have been called the main work’ (j’ai formé dans ma fabrique un atelier de
composition et de dessin spécial à ma production verrière. Placé sous ma direction
immédiate, cet atelier est le moteur des autres. Là, s’exécutent les profiles pour le
tournage des formes en bois destinés au soufflage, les aquarelles ou cartons pour
les émailleurs, graveurs ou peintres. De nombreux modèles de nature vivante et
morte sont à la disposition de l’atelier, grâce au jardin de l’usine et à ses collections
d’histoire naturelle. Mon oeuvre personnelle consiste surtout à rêver pour le crystal
des rôles tendres ou terribles, à lui composer soigneusement des visages aimables
ou tragiques, à rassembler les éléments, à préparer de longue main la réalisation de
mes ouvrages futurs, à mettre la technique aux ordres de l’oeuvre préconçue, à jeter
dans la balance des opérations hasardeuses des chances de succès possible, lors de
l’opération décisive qu’on eût appelée autrefois le grand oeuvre.)
26. Emile Gallé. Bottle. Greenish glass with
raised enamelled decoration featuring pond
life. Mark: ‘deposé’ and ‘Emile Gallé pour
bonheur’ against a four-leaved clover on bottom. Diameter 6.5cm, height 9.4cm. Glasgow
City Council (Museums) (1896.36.c) purchased
from Halstaff and Hannaford, Regent Street,
for 15 shillings (75p) 1896. The decoration
does not relate exactly to any known species,
but may be copied from Japanese prints or
manga.
27. Selection of Gallé vases on view at the
Salon, from the Gazette des Beaux-Arts,
1892. The tall one is a ‘vase de tristesse’
(vase of sadness)
28. Emile Gallé. Vase. Semi-opaque glass
with green and brown colouration,
decorated with hyacinth flowers (possibly
Hyacinthus orientalis). The brown streaks
may represent dried bulb scales.
Mark: ‘Gallé de Nancy init et fecit’ on base.
Diameter 12.1cm, height 10.4cm Glasgow
City Council (Museums) (1896.36.a)
purchased from Halstaff and Hannaford,
Regent Street, 1896
27
26
Gallé’s use of plants and flowers was not mere copying and imitation of
existing illustrations, but an attempt to create new forms through his
understanding of plant growth and the study of living specimens
(he hated the use of flowers in ‘battles of flowers’, recognising them as
living things). This gives a living, vibrant quality to his work, and an element
of the unexpected in the design, as if the decoration or form might grow or
change with the days or seasons. Above all, he saw his work as an artistic
and spiritual thing. The ornamental decoration was always symbolic, but
not in the way of the English books devoted to the ‘language of flowers’
– véritables charades fleuries as he called them – that portrayed flowers in
a mechanical way, but as the work of a true artist who ‘seeks to extract
the true character and sentiment to make a work more vibrant, and
more emotionally moving, than he whose only tool is a camera or a cold
scalpel’ (cherche à en extraire le caractère, le sentiment contenu, fera une
oeuvre plus vibrante et d’une émotion plus contagieuse que celui dont
l’outil ne sera qu’un appareil photographique, ou qu’un froid scalpel).
To achieve this effect, Gallé continued to develop the range of colours
and techniques. By 1889 he was using chemicals such as iridium and
thallium to achieve new colours, and the effects of marbled jasper,
smoky crystal and amethyst quartz. However, his work was not
purely botanical, but covered other fields as well. He produced a
figurative vase dedicated to ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’, symbolizing
the loss of Lorraine to France, as well as one of a cupid chased by
28
butterflies.
15
Gallé furniture
29
30
Gallé’s production of furniture had now taken off along the
same lines. The general inspiration was the French 18th
century, with much use of marquetry, but the effect was
so suffused with his knowledge of botany that many of the
pieces look as though they had grown rather than been
constructed. He did indeed imitate the structure of the plants,
such as that of the umbel, in some of his pieces. He made
much use of the fruit woods of Lorraine, which he preferred
to wax rather than polish. He was acutely conscious of the
materials he used, and in 1889 wrote that, whereas he used
to burn wood to make ceramics and glass, now he used it to
make furniture. However, he had no truck with the English
‘Art and Crafts’ obsession of handicraft throughout and was
happy to use machine tools where necessary to get precise
effects by his skilled craftsmen.
Gallé was by now part of the artistic scene in Paris. He met and knew Comte Robert
de Montesquiou (1855-1921), who was to be a demanding and tempestuous patron
for the next few years, introducing him to Parisian society, before a split in 1897. A
major supporter was the critic Roger Marx (1859-1913), also from Lorraine, who was
active in government circles. He praised Gallé as a ‘homo triplex’ exhibiting furniture,
glass and pottery at the 1889 exhibition, praising it for being drawn from nature,
yet essentially modern and French. Roger Marx was named head of the provincial
Museums in France that year, and his advocacy of the unity of fine and decorative
arts, and the work of Gallé in particular, was to have an immense influence on Gallé’s
reputation and the development of arts in France at the end of the century.
16
33
29. Emile Gallé. Marquetry desk with carved
decoration, c.1900. Width 115cm. The
Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau,
University of East Anglia
30. Monbro fils aîné. Marquetry and ormolu
mounted secretaire in the 18th century style
bought by Joséphine Bowes, c.1855. Height
118cm. The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle,
County Durham
31
31. Georges de Feure (designer) ‘L’Elégante’
Porcelain figure commissioned from Gérard,
Dufraisseix & Abbot, Limoges for the gallery
‘L’Art Nouveau’, 1903. Height 25.5cm.
Victor and Gretha Arwas, London
32. Félix Vallotton. Poster for Siegfried Bing’s
gallery’ L’Art Nouveau’ Victor and Gretha
Arwas, London
32
33. Georges de Feure (designer) Porcelain
vase and cover commissioned from Gérard,
Dufraisseix & Abbot Limoges, for the gallery
’L’Art Nouveau’, 1901. Victor and Gretha
Arwas, London
Salon Exhibits
34
The development of decorative arts in France,
under the influence of Gallé, was such that they
were recognized as an art form in themselves.
The public breakthrough came in 1890, when
they were shown alongside painting and
sculpture at the Salon, the public exhibition
of painting and sculpture. Gallé was a keen
contributor to these exhibitions, and in
1895 submitted three new vases entitled Le
Baumier (balsam), Le Coudrier (hazel) and L’Epave
(a wreck, set in the sea, surrounded by plant life)
which he described in an article in the art magazine
‘La Plume’. In 1898 Gallé sent to the Salon nineteen pieces of glass
with the new technique of glass inlay, the so-called marqueterie de verre. In his
article on his submissions (Mes Envois au Salon) in the Revue des Arts Décoratifs
of that year, he claimed to be making an ‘anthology of flora’ (florule anthologique)
through his use of floral motifs.
The 1900 exhibition
By now, Gallé was not just seen as the leading craftsman and maker in late 19th
century France, he had created a sinuous, botanical style that was imitated in
virtually every country in Europe. His international
fame was highlighted at the Paris International
Exhibition of 1900, where he won a gold medal and
was recognised as the leading exponent of the ‘new
art’ or Art Nouveau. The term Art Nouveau came into
general use in 1895, when Siegfried Bing, a dealer in
Japanese items, opened a gallery called L’Art Nouveau
in Paris devoted to the work of new designers. The
style was propagated by means of the periodicals,
and exhibits in the Paris Salon. It had the support of
government officials as being based on a home-grown
French style (the Rococo), French botanical forms,
and the superior skills of French craftsmen.
38
34. A.A.Lamarre. Ceramic and bronze inkwell exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900. Victor and
Gretha Arwas, London
35. Gold dragonfly brooch set with precious stones, probably French, c.1900. Width 12cm. The Anderson
Collection of Art Nouveau, University of East Anglia
36. View of the Paris International Exhibition of 1900 from the River Seine. This brought French Art Nouveau to
the attention of the wider world.
37. Jules Brateau. Pewter chalice with floral decoration exhibited at the Salon of the Société Nationale des
Beaux-Arts in 1897 and the Paris International Exhibition of 1900. Victor and Gretha Arwas, London
38. Photograph of Gallé’s stand at the 1900 exhibition. Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, Nancy
35
36
17
37
A lasting legacy
In the 1900 exhibition Gallé showed different vases, including les Granges (‘barns’,
on wheat), Repos dans la Solitude (repose in soltitude), and l’Ame de l’eau (the soul
of water). He wrote at the time an article on symbolism in the decorative arts
(le décor symbolique), commenting on the need to create or adapt naturalist motifs
to personify them, as ‘the most exact botanical depiction does not move us, because
the human soul is absent’ (le document naturaliste le plus scrupuleux ne nous
émeut pas, parce que l’âme humaine en est absente). He continued to quote from
the Symbolist poets such as Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949): his vase engraved
Les Feuilles des douleurs passés’ (the leaves of past suffering) was based on the
following lines from the poem ‘Serres Chaudes’ (‘Hothouses’) of 1889 ‘Through the
flight of crystal blue, I see your pale flowers of past suffering forming’ (Et je vois
éclore au travers/De la fuite du crystal bleu/les feuilles des douleurs passées). The
result was a smoky blue vase, inset with leaves falling down, with great beauty and
elusiveness of colouring which defies any description as a utilitarian piece.
Gallé was by now a recognised figure in
the Parisian art world, a recipient of the
Légion d’Honneur, who had supplied
glass as French diplomatic gifts to the
Czar and Czarina of Russia. Some of
his most ambitious and complex works
were made as presentation pieces; for
instance, a vase or goblet for the chemist
Louis Pasteur of 1892 featuring the very
microbes relating to cholera and pneumonia
that Pasteur sought to eradicate, and a vase
La Soude (soda) featuring smoky factory
chimneys in a cloud of white dust for the
owner of a firm that made soda crystals, a vital
part of glass production. A ‘geological’ vase of
the same date for a member of the faculty of
sciences at Nancy showed crystals growing within
the glass body. The Coupe Rose presented in 1901
by the Société d’horticulture de Nancy to its retiring
President, Léon Simon, decorated with sprays of roses
against a pinkish ground, was a reversion to the botanical
theme that Gallé knew so well, having designed the cover for
the Acts of the International Botanical Congress in Paris in 1900.
18
39
39. Emile Gallé. Artic Vase. Wheel carved glass with enamelling. This vase, featuring birds
in a winter landscape, treats the same theme as Monet’s painting of ‘The Magpie’ of 1869.
Like Monet, Gallé is able to find colours in the cold and ice of a winter’s day. Victor and
Gretha Arwas, London
40. E.Belet (‘artiste céramique’ at Sèvres). Print from La Végétation sous Marine, 1900
41. Emile Gallé. ‘Coupe Rose de France’ presented to Léon Simon in 1901. Cameo glass
with inlaid and engraved decoration. Height 44.7cm. Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, Nancy
40
42. Emile Gallé. ‘Cameo’ vase decorated with leaves of sacred
lotus (Nelumbo nucifera). Height 7cm. The Bowes Museum,
43. Victor Prouvé. Portrait of Emile Gallé, 1892. Musée de
l’Ecole de Nancy, Nancy
44. Advertisement for Gallé’s new showrooms in London,
from The Magazine of Art, 1904
45. Saint Denis vase of brown and gilt frosted glass, c.1900.
The use of wild flowers, or even weeds such as dandelions
as decoration, reflects Gallé’s influence and broad botanical
interests. Height 12.2cm. The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle,
County Durham
42
41
However, Gallé was not opposed to what he called ‘vulgarising’ or popularising his art
in order to reach a wider market. In addition to the exhibition pieces and the special
commissions, he developed a wide range of vases that were made by the firm of Meisenthal,
some finished off at his workshops at Nancy, until full glass production was commenced at
La Garenne in 1894. They were mostly of botanical form in ‘cameo’ glass with which he is
forever associated, signed with his name in floral lettering. Mass production was facilitated
from 1889 by the development of hydrofluoric acid to ‘acid-etch’ these vases to replace the
more expensive cutting on the wheel. However, he was not keen for his work to become too
generally available, and he rejected sales via the Réunion stores in Paris and Nancy, and prosecuted
the Grand Magasin du Louvre in 1901 for selling his work. He preferred to sell through his own
showroom in Paris (cabinet des échantillons) and the well-known shop L’Escalier du Cristal, one of
the specialist ceramic shops near the rue du Paradis in Paris.
Despite his fame, he never turned his back on the town where he was born, and always tried
to foster local industry. There were by now rival manufactures, led by Louis Majorelle in
furniture, and the firm of Daum in glass. However, they worked together to promote
the Nancy style or botanical style throughout France and the world. In 1901 a
teaching school and Museum, the Ecole de Nancy, was set up, with Gallé as
its president. The founding charter stated that ‘the association will highlight
the character of the kind of beauty and advantages of the decoration inspired
by direct observation of living things, a fruitful, rational principle that the
Lorraine masters have been the first to expound’ (l’association tient à mettre
spécialement en lumière le caractère de la beauté et les avantages du décor
inspiré par l’observation directe des êtres et de la vie, principe fécond, rationale
que les maîtres lorrains modernes ont été des premiers à faire admettre). Gallé
himself died in 1904, but in a major exhibition of decorative arts in Nancy in
1909 there was a special tribute to him, with his portrait by Prouvé on show. His
workshop continued making works in his manner (marked with his signature and a
star) until 1934, but his inspiration continues today.
43
19
44
45
Further reading
Gabriella Gros-Galliner ‘A French Connection: Emile Gallé and the
Boweses. The Gallé correspondence at The Bowes Museum,
Barnard Castle; The Connoisseur, September, 1979, pp.50-55
Katharine Morrison McClinton ‘Documented Gallé Glass’, Apollo, April,
1985, pp.262-265
Philippe Thiébaut, Les Dessins de Gallé, Paris, 1993
Philippe Garner, Emile Gallé, London, 1979
Judy Rudoe, Decorative Arts 1850-1950: A catalogue of the British
Museum Collection, London, 1994
Paul Greenhalgh (ed), Art Nouveau 1890-1914, London, 2000
Victor Arwas, Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic, London, 2002
Amanda Geitner and Emma Hazell (ed), The Anderson Collection of
Art Nouveau, The Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, 2003
20
Letter from the firm of Gallé Reinemer
to Joséphine Bowes, 11th July, 1871
Appendix
Nancy, le 11 juillet 1871
Nancy, 11th July 1871
Madame Bowes, Streatlam Castle,
Darlington
Darlington
Madame,
Vous m’avez fait l’honneur dès l’ouverture de la section
française à l’Exposition, de me confier vos ordres à moi
transmis par les soins de mon fils, Monsieur Emile Gallé.
J’ai immédiatement mis en réserve ici les divers objets
qui se trouvaient préparés, et j’ai mis en commande
les autres; puis j’ai pris note de ceux choisis par vous
parmi mes modèles figurant à l’exposition, les quels
étaient devenus votre propriété.
22
Or j’apprends que malgré mes sévères
recommandations, mon agent à Londres,
contrairement aux ordres de mon fils, a livré à une
autre Personne une bonbonnière par vous achetée.
Je viens, Madame, vous exprimer ici tous mes
regrets pour cette action tout à fait contraire à mes
principes qui reposent tout autant sur le droit que
sur la délicatesse. Je vais en hâte exécuter une
nouvelle pièce tout aussi parfaite que l’échantillon,
et elle vous sera expédiée sans delais, autrement
dire le plus tôt possible.
Reposez-vous Madame, je vous en prie, sur
l’assurance que je vous donne ici que Qui que ce soit ne prendra possession en
votre place des modèles exposés que vous avez acquis.
Madame,
You have done me the honour, since the opening of the French section of the
exhibition, of sending me your orders through the good offices of my son, Monsieur
Emile Gallé.
I immediately put on reserve here the various objects that were already prepared,
and put the others on order; I then noted those chosen by you from my models in the
exhibition, which had become your own property.
Sadly I have learnt that, despite my strict instructions, my agent in London, contrary
to the orders of my son, delivered to someone else a sweetmeat bowl bought by
you. I wish, Madame, to express here my deepest regret for this action, which was
totally contrary to my principles, based as they are on fairplay as much as personal
feelings. I am going to execute with all haste a new piece as perfect as the original,
which will be sent to you without delay, that is to say as quickly as possible.
Do set your mind at rest, I beg you, with my promise given here. No-one else, no
matter who, will take possession of the models that you acquired.
These models are really not intended to upset anyone, and my first care is to make
sure that all my dealings give evidence of the most complete loyalty, united to all the
qualities that in England distinguish a gentleman.
I remain, Madame, your devoted servant,
Gallé Reinemer
Ces modèles du reste ne sont destinés à tromper Personne, et ma première
préoccupation est celle de laisser dans tous mes rapports la trace et le souvenir de
la plus parfaite loyauté unie à toutes les qualités qui en Angleterre distinguent le
Gentilhomme.
Daignez croire, Madame, à mes sentiments respectueux et dévoués,
Gallé Reinemer
23
Nancy, le 12 septembre 1871
Nancy, 12th September 1871
Darlington
Darlington
Madame,
La masse vraiment extraordinaire de nos travaux m’empêche de
prendre cette année des vacances en Ecosse; je n’aurai donc
pas l’honneur de vous rendre visite à Darlington, suivant la toute
gracieuse invitation que vous avez bien voulu me faire. Je le
regrette vivement, mais je n’y renonce pas, et j’espère pouvoir
retourner l’an prochain en Angleterre, vu les intérêts qui m’y
appelleront, et, de Londres, pousser une pointe jusqu’à votre
beau musée...Qu’allez-vous encore penser de nous, Madame?,
que nous sommes des gens sans foi!
Avant de quitter l’Exposition, j’ai suspendu à toutes les pièces
qui vous appartiennent, des étiquettes à votre nom, et il a été
bien entendu que rien ne serait distrait de cette collection.
24
Si vous ne pouvez faire prendre ces objets par occasion,
nous ferons venir à Kensington un ouvrier emballeur habile,
afin que tout vous parvienne en bon état.
Je m’occupe ici des objets commandés par vous; j’en soigne tout particulièrement la
fabrication; j’ose espérer que la grande cruche vous satisfera.
Quant aux assiettes pour le musée, Monsieur Gallé vous prie, Madame, de bien
vouloir patienter; nos agents anglais sonts incompétents et ignorants; il vaudra donc
mieux traiter cette affaire directement. Quand le moment sera venu de prendre une
décision, nous vous soumettrons des modèles parmi lesquels vous ferez un choix;
nous tâcherons de nous en tirer à votre honneur, et au nôtre.
Nous travaillons de toutes nos forces pour créer dans notre malheureuse Lorraine
une industrie nouvelle, et bien française. Monsieur Viollet Leduc (sic), l’architecte
de la Ville de Paris a bien voulu, dans le Journal des Débats, rendre à Mr. Gallé cette
justice, qu’il n’a pas désespéré de son pays, pour lequel il a vaillamment combattu à
Londres.
Madame,
The quite extraordinary quantity of work in progress has prevented me from taking
my holidays in Scotland this year; so I will not have the honour of paying you a visit
in Darlington, in accordance with your kind invitation extended to me. I keenly regret
it, but I do not despair of it, and I hope to return to England another year, given the
various interests that call me, and, from London, travel as far as your Museum...what
will you think of us, Madame? That we are people who don’t keep their word!
Before leaving the exhibition, I applied labels with your name to all the pieces
belonging to you, and it was well understood that nothing would be separated from
this group.
If you do not have a chance to collect these objects, we shall have a skilled packer
come to Kensington so that everything gets to you in good order.
I am busy here on the objects you ordered; I am taking special care on their making;
I am daring to hope that the large jug will please you.
As to the plates for the Museum, Monsier Gallé begs you, Madame, to be very
patient; our English agents are incompetent and ignorant; it will be better to deal with
this matter directly. When the time comes to make a decision, we will submit to you
models from which you can make a choice; we will do our outmost to be a credit to
you, and ourselves.
We are trying with all our might to create in our unhappy Lorraine a new industry,
one that is truly French. Monsieur Viollet Le Duc, the architect of the City of Paris,
has had the kindness to pay Mr. Gallé the compliment of saying in the ‘Journal des
Débats’ that he had not despaired of his country for which he competed valiantly in
London.
I present my most respectful compliments to Monsieur Bowes,
Your humble servant,
Emile Gallé
J’ose présenter mes compliments bien respectueux à Monsieur Bowes, en vous
priant de croire, Madame, votre reconnaissant très dévoué Serviteur,
Emile Gallé
25
Nancy, le 18 septembre 1871
Nancy, 18th September 1871
Darlington
Darlington
Madame,
Madame,
Je me hâte de vous remercier pour votre très gracieux envoi : avez
vous donc voulu reconstruire nos pauvres Tuileries en Angleterre?
C’est tout à fait le pavillon de Marsan. Quelle habitation princière et
royale pour nos humbles fayences! Quel encouragement pour les
fayenciers de S’nt Clément!
I hasten to thank you for your very gracious dispatch: is it really your wish to
re-erect our poor Tuileries in England? It is a veritable ‘pavilion of Marsan’ (part
of the Tuileries). What a princely and royal setting for our humble faience! What
encouragement for the faience makers of Saint Clément!
Je suis de votre avis Madame: les toits, surtout ceux des pavillons
extrêmes, gagneront à être exhaussés (un faîtage? ou une galerie); cette
modification ajoutera plus encore au grandiose de l’ensemble.
Je ne vous conseille point de visiter la fabrique de S’nt Clément, ni nos magazins
à Nancy. Nous remanions la fabrique, nous ajoutons des ateliers; mon père se
fait construire en ce moment, à la porte de Nancy, une habitation que nous nous
efforcerons de rendre intéressante pour les artistes et les amateurs de fayence.
26
D’ailleurs, notre malheureuse Lorraine démembrie, occupée par l’ennemi, est fort
triste à voir; les brouillards d’Octobre vont ajouter encore à ce tableau sombre; quel
hiver nous allons passer dans ce(sic) tôle avec notre garnison exécrée! nous n’avons
pour armes que notre mépris pris à vis de nos vainqueurs; nous allons les faire périr
ici d’ennui pendant l’hiver, et la haine que nous leur portons nous empêchera d’en
mourir en meme temps qu’eux.
Point de théâtre, point de concerts, point de bals, point de chasse...Pour tuer vos
perdreaux, Madame, c’est à mon père qu’il me faudrait remettre la carabine; moi
je n’ai jamais porté que le chassepot...En ma qualité de botaniste enragé, je ne
chasse que les plantes. C’est la passion qui dispute ma vie à celle, peut-être moins
heureuse, de la céramique: quand je cueille une fleur, je cueille un modèle et une
idée. Quand je modèle un projet nouveau, c’est que je rêve bien sûr à quelque fleur
inconnue.Il m’arrive parfois en tournant les pages de mon herbier dans les soirées
d’hiver, de n’y voir que des vases, et peut-être qu’un jour en visitant vos belles
fayences, à Darlington, il m’arrivera de les prendre pour une collection de fleurs
merveilleuses.
Je suis très (bien?) ennuyé en ce moment, je ne puis rien produire de neuf, ni
mettre aujour (sic) aucune des nombreuses idées que j’ai (‘en ce moment’ erased) à
cause du flot de commandes anglaises qui nous submerge...Je ne sais si Monsieur
Du Sommerard aura pour nous un petit coin vide l’an prochain, mais, en 1873, nous
espérons nous produire à Vienne. D’ici là , nous avons fait bien des progrès, qui
continueront à nous mériter votre haute protection; je le désire, et reste,
Madame, votre respectueux et dévoué,
Emile Gallé
I agree with you, Madame, the roofs, especially those at the end, would benefit from
being raised with a higher roof or gallery; this modification would add greatly to the
splendour of the ensemble.
I really do not advise you to visit the factory at Saint Clément, or our showrooms at
Nancy. We are reconstructing the factory; we are adding workshops; my father is
at this very moment building a house on the outskirts of Nancy that we are trying to
make a centre for artists and collectors of faience.
Moreover, our unhappy Lorraine, dismembered, occupied by the enemy, is very
sad to see; the October mists are going to add still further to this gloomy picture;
what a winter we are going to have in this prison with our despised garrison! Our
only weapon is our disdain for our conquerors; we are going to make them die of
boredom here this winter; and the hate that we bear them will prevent us from
dying too.
No theatre, no concerts, no balls, no hunting…. As for killing your partridges, I have
to yield the shooting gun to my father; I have never carried anything other than a
‘chassepot’. As an ardent botanist, I hunt only plants. It is the passion that competes
in my life with that, perhaps less happy, of ceramics; when I pick a flower, I pick
a model and an idea. When I model a new project, I am really dreaming of some
unknown flower. Sometimes, when I am turning the pages of my herbarium on a
winter’s evening, I seem to see only vases, and perhaps one day, when I visit your
beautiful faience collection at Darlington, I will think it is a collection of marvellous
plants.
I am very bored at the moment; I cannot create anything new, nor work on any of the
ideas I have, because of the huge numbers of orders from England that overwhelm
us. I do not know if Monsieur Du Sommerard will have a spare corner for us next
year, but, in 1873, we are hoping to show at Vienna. From here to there, we have
made good progress, which continues to be worthy of your support, which I ardently
desire, while remaining, Madame,
Your devoted servant,
Emile Gallé
27
Nancy, 17 mai 1872
Nancy, 17 May 1872
Darlington
Darlington
Madame,
Si vous avez pensé quelquefois à la fayence de Nancy, vous avez du
(sic) croire qu’elle vous oubliait; il n’en a pourtant rien été. Je me suis
occupé de remplir le reliquat de vos ordres donnés à Kensington:
1. un verre d’eau style Marie-Antoinette, commandé dans le
genre de votre bonbonnière à dentelles et semis de fleurettes de
l’époque
2. Pour votre musée, une cruche de Lorraine, en fayence, de
dimensions amples et dessin bien décoratif.
Je vous envoie le verre d’eau, qui est terminé: veuillez le regarder avec attention, et,
si vous voulez bien lui faire une petite place dans votre palais, je pense qu’il méritera
cet honneur. Vous apprécierez, je l’espère, que ce beau travail de gravure française
justifie amplement le prix indiqué et certainement modeste.
Ayant composé le dessin des formes et de la décoration, exécutée sous mes yeux
par mes graveurs, j’ai cru pouvoir signer l’œuvre.
28
Les deux gobelets Louis XVl, placés sur leurs soucoupes, sont de petites merveilles,
tout garnis de flots de vieux points de Venise, et, au travers, tout un monde de
papillons et fleurettes. Le sucrier est habillé d’une Valencienne; des fleurs d’oranger
et guipures sur le carafon à liqueur; sur la carafe, des nœuds de vieux rubans à picots
et du chèvre-feuille.
Quant à la cruche, la fayence nous a trahis! J’ai fait tourner, il y a 6 mois, deux
cruches, chacune d’un mètre de haut. Au bout de deux mois, ces cruches étant
sèches, je les ai fait passer au feu; elles y ont péri; j’ai recommencé, et n’ai obtenu
qu’un désastre nouveau et définitif. Nous permettrez-vous, Madame, en notre
temps, de recommencer sur des proportions moindres, 0 m 75 par exemple?
Le sujet du décor serait tout Lorrain (sic), et vous qui, comme Marie Stuart, restez
une amie de la France en Ecosse, ne trouverez-vous pas quelque satisfaction à la
devise suivante, tournant autour de la pièce : Metz défendu contre Charles Quint
Empéreur d’Allemagne, par François de Guise et 6,000 Français. 1er Janvier 1553.
Cette scène serait traduite en quelques traits, avec bordure Renaissance; mais il
nous faudrait du temps. Un beau tournoi de céramistes français s’ouvre le 2 Juin à
Lyon. Puis-je espérer que vous, Madame, et l’honorable Monsieur Bowes viendrez
nous y voir combattre? Nous aurons une large place, et beaucoup de choses
intérressantes (sic).
Madame,
If you have thought from time to time of the faience of Nancy, you must have
thought we had forgotten you; it is nothing of the kind. I have been busy in fulfilling
the remainder of your orders given at Kensington.
1. a ‘verre d’eau’ (cabaret set) in the style of Marie-Antoinette, commissioned in the
style of your sweetmeat dish with a pattern of historic lace and scattered blossoms
of the period
2. for your Museum, a Lorraine jug, in faience, large, with a very decorative design
I am sending you the ‘verre d’eau’, which is finished; do examine it closely, and if
you wish to give it a little place in your palace, I do believe it merits this honour. You
will appreciate, I hope, that this fine example of French engraving amply justifies the
suggested modest price.
Since I myself have designed the form and decoration, carried out by my engravers
under my own eyes, I felt justified in adding my signature.
The two Louis XVI goblets, fitted into their saucers, are little marvels, all decorated
with billowing old Venice lace, and on the reverse, a crowd of butterflies and
blossoms. The sugar basin is wrapped in Valenciennes lace; orange blossoms and
Guipure lace decorate the liqueur bottle; Picot lace ribbons and honeysuckle the
water carafe.
As to the jug, the faience has let us down! Six months ago I had two jugs turned,
each a metre in height. After two months, when they were dry, I had them fired, and
they perished in the process; I tried again, but only a new and final disaster. Would you
allow us, Madame, to try again with less ambitious proportions, maybe 0.75m high?
(there is a drawing of the jug at the side)
The subject will still be Lorrain (sic), and you who, like Marie Stuart, remain a friend
of France in Scotland (sic), will find some satisfaction in the following design, around
the piece: Metz defended against Charles V, the German Emperor, by the duc de
Guise and 6000 Frenchmen. 1st January 1553. This scene would be sketched out
in some aspects, with a Renaissance border, but it will take us some time. A good
show of French ceramics is opening on the 2nd June at Lyons. Might I hope that you,
Madame, and the honoured Mr. Bowes will come along to see us compete? We will
have a large space, with many interesting things.
I remain, with a profound respect, Madame, your devoted servant,
Emile Gallé
Je demeure, avec un profond respect, Madame, votre dévoué serviteur,
Emile Gallé
29
Nancy, le 19 mai 1872
Débit
un verre d’eau en cristal, composition artistique style Louis XVl. Gravure dentelle de
l’époque Marie Antoinette.
composé de:
90”
1 plateau carré à pattes
}
70”
1 carafe à eau
}
30”
1 carafe à fleurs d’orange
}
350.00
50”
1 sucrier
}
55”
2 timbales (25”) et sa (sic) soucoupes (28”) }
Caisse et emballage francs
Ensemble francs
0.00
350.00
(On reverse of letter, in John Bowes’s handwriting:
Mr Gallé Reinemer Payé. Le 21 Juillet 1872. Fr 500.00)
30
31
Nancy, 19th May 1872
To
A glass ‘verre d’eau’ in the Louis XVI style. Engraved with lace of the period of
Marie-Antoinete.
Composed of:
90”
1 square tray on feet
}
70”
1 water flask
}
30”
1 orange flower water flask
}
350.00
50”
1 sugar bowl
}
55”
2 cups (25”) and saucers (28”)
}
Box and packing francs
Total francs
(On reverse of letter, in John Bowes’s handwriting:
Mr Gallé Reinemer Payé. 21st July 1872. Fr 500.00 (see below))
0.00
350.00
Honorable Madame Bowes
Nancy, 24th May 1872
Honorable Madame Bowes
Madame,
Madame,
Je viens réparer l’oubli que j’ai commis en ma dernière de la remise de la
facture aux objets préparés depuis longtemps et formant le solde de vos
ordres.
I am just repairing the omission in my last letter of not sending the bill for the objects
already prepared and forming the balance of your orders.
Ces objets voyagent avec le verre d’eau et j’espère que, Comme lui, ils
arriveront sans avarie et absolument à la satisfaction de votre personne.
Une fois de plus, acceptez Madame, l’assurance de mes sentiments les
plus dévoués,
These objects will travel with the ‘verre d’eau’ and I hope that they will also arrive
without damage and to your liking.
Once again, Madame, accept my warmest regards
Gallé Reinemer
Gallé Reinemer
24 mai 1872
Débit
Madame Bowes
24th May 1872
To Madame Bowes
32
33
fayence
1 nid d’hirondelle, de coin, gris & rose
1 encrier 3 pieces Louis XV, la marguerita
2 plaques à tartine (castine?), Callots
1 jardinière de foyer verte & blanche
cristal
1 bonbonnière L.16, dentelle & fleurs
2 caisses
francs
8”
40“
24“
16“
45”
18”
7“
150.00
faience
glass
1 swallow’s nest corner ornament, grey and pink
1 inkstand, 3 pieces Louis XV sytle, ‘la marguerita’
2 bread and butter plates, Callot figures
1 hall jardinière, green and white
1 ‘bonbonnière’ L.16, lace & flowers
2 boxes
francs
Deux caisses
No. 2 et 2 bis
Branly
Boulogne
two boxes
No. 2 et 2 bis
Branly
Boulogne
8”
40“
24“
16“
45”
18”
7“
150.00
June 13th 1872 – John Bowes wrote from Paris to his agent Dent at Barnard Castle: ‘There are 5 cases now packed, and
waiting to be sent off, some of which require great care…Mrs Bowes requests you to unpack with your hands the cases
from Gallé Reinemer, and place the contents either in the front West Room Top Storey, or some place you have under lock
and key. Also please examine carefully to see that there are no chips, or cracks. I send you the bill (which please return)
that you may see that all is correct before you pay it’. June 28th: ‘I am sorry to hear that the jardinière from Gallé Reinemer
is chipped. I will attend to the bill’. Presumably John Bowes then wrote to Gallé Reinemer to complain.
Nancy, le 23 juillet 1872
Monsieur John Bowes, 7 rue de Berlin, Paris
Monsieur,
Monsieur,
Je m’empresse de vous accuser réception de votre Estimée du 22.
renfermant un chèque de Fr 500 en solde de mes fournitures.
34
Nancy, 23rd July 1872
Monsieur John Bowes, 7 rue de Berlin, Paris
I hasten to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 22nd, containing a cheque for
500 francs in payment of my supplies.
C’est me payer vraiment trop tôt que de ne pas attendre que votre vérification ne
sanctionne pas le prix accusé.
You are really paying me too soon, rather than waiting to see if the agreed price is
justified.
Aussi je reçois comme supérieur à ce paiement cette preuve de Confiance donnée
par Madame Bowes et par vous même, et je vous en remercie sincèrement.
I take it also as, above and beyond the payment itself, a proof of confidence given by
Madame Bowes and you yourself, for which I thank you sincerely.
Ne pensez pas, je vous en prie, que ma sollicitude s’arrête à la production des
objets, et que l’œil du maître ne veille pas sur les emballages. C’est avec des soins
minutieux et non ordinaires, que les objets ont été emballés ici, et c’est précisément
parce que j’ai pris ces soins personnels que je puis vous affirmer qu’ils ont été tels
comme cela est mon devoir autant que mes intérêts.
I beg you not to think my care ends with the production of the objects, and that the
master does not keep an eye on the packing. We take great and particular care in
packing here, and it is exactly because I take personal interest that I can swear that
they were packed in a way consistent with my duty and my interests.
Mais tenez compte, je vous prie, des vérifications en douane - surtout au temps
d’alors de la peste bovine; certainement que le droit de vérification amène des
accidents involontaires même de la part de ceux qui les occasionnent sans en avoir
conscience.
Quant aux souffrances qui ont pu être subies par envoi de Londres, je n’en suis
pas étonné, car ces sortes de travaux se font dans les expositions par des mains
quelconques quoique l’on proteste d’ailleurs.
Il se pourra, et je le désire, qu’à son retour d’Italie fin de l’hiver prochain, mon fils aille
en Angleterre pour parfaire son instruction et il ira, si cela lui est permis, examiner les
merveilles qui décorent une de vos résidences, et pansera les blessures qui ont été
faites à l’émail de certaines objets.
I beg you to take into account the customs examination, especially at the time of
cattle disease; certainly their right to examination leads to involuntary damage,
without their even realizing it.
As to any damage they might have undergone on the road to London, I am not at all
surprised, because this kind of thing happens without one even knowing the names
of the people involved, no matter how much one protests.
My son might, I hope, go to England after his return from Italy at the end of next
winter, to perfect his education, and he would be able, if you allowed, to examine
the marvels that decorate one of your houses and repair the damage to the enamels
of certain objects.
I remain, Monsieur, your devoted servant,
Gallé Reinemer
Daignez agréer Monsieur, l’assurance de mes respects,
Gallé Reinemer
35
John Bowes wrote to his agent Dent from Paris, January 5th 1873; ‘Mrs. Bowes wishes you to open the case sent by
Gallé Reinemer & to place the jug it contains in safety in the West Top Front Room. It is a specimen of his Manufacture
which he presented to Mrs. Bowes for the Museum, and she is anxious to know before writing him whether it has arrived
in safety, and without injury. As it is ornamental, it is no doubt delicate please therefore be careful in the unpacking.’.
Joséphine Bowes died suddenly on the 9th February, 1874, and John Bowes must have written to Emile Gallé to tell him
of the fact:
Nancy, 10 mars 1874
Monsieur,
Vous avez eu la bonté de penser à moi au moment de l’épreuve douloureuse qui vient de vous frapper, par la perte de
Madame Bowes de Montalbo.
Je suis profondément touché, Monsieur, que vous avez bien voulu me permettre de m’associer à ce deuil, immense pour
vous, et pour tous ceux qui ont eu le bonheur de connaître Madame.
Vous êtes souvenu que je suis de ceux-là, et vous vous êtes dit que je ne manquerais pas de regretter, moi aussi, cette
générosité qui savait trouver si vite le chemin du cœur, cette haute intelligence du beau, cette exquise délicatesse de
goût, ce vif sentiment de l’art, qui faisaient de Madame de Montalbo une protectrice éclairée et aimée des artistes, Je
suis très-honoré, Monsieur, de penser que quelques-unes de mes modestes œuvres resteront pour vous des souvenirs
de Celle que en avait fait le choix; de même, je garde avec vénération la vue de Streatlam Castle et la gracieuse lettre qui
l’accompagnait.
36
Daignez croire, je vous prie, Monsieur, au vif sentiment de respectueuse sympathie avec lequel je suis votre serviteur
dévoué,
Emile Gallé
Nancy, 10th March 1874
Monsieur,
You have had the kindness to think of me at this time of the sad blow occasioned by the loss of Madame Bowes de
Montalbo.
I am profoundly touched, Monsieur, that you have allowed me to be associated with this mourning, immense for you, and
for all those who had the good fortune to know Madame.
You remembered that I was amongst those, and you told yourself that I should not be denied the chance of expressing
my regret for the loss of this generous spirit that could find so quickly the way to one’s heart, this high appreciation of
the beautiful, this exquisite delicacy of taste, this lively love of art, which made of Madame Bowes an enlightened patron,
beloved by artists. I am very honoured, Monsieur, to think some of my modest works will stay with you as souvenirs of
the one that chose them; equally, I shall keep with veneration the view of Streatlam Castle and the gracious letter that
accompanied it.
I remain, believe me Monsieur, with deepest sympathy, your devoted servant,
Emile Gallé
37
Postscript
Much of Gallé’s pottery at The Bowes Museum was included in a sale at Anderson and Garland, Newcastle,
4th December 1917, Catalogue of a Collection of Duplicates from The Bowes Museum, with an alleged provenance
from the 1867 exhibition.
38
14
Two coloured Nancy ware chamber candlesticks
15
Two coloured Nancy ware ewers, from Paris Exhibition, 1867
16
A Nancy ware flower vase, painted with flowers and spinning wheel, and a triple flower vase, with medallions and
scrolls of flowers (chipped)
17
A Nancy ware double inkstand with tray, Paris Exhibition, 1867
18
A similar inkstand
20
Two Nancy ware hanging flowers baskets, Paris Exhibition, 1867
27
A Nancy ware ewer and cover decorated with scrolls and flowers in relief
77
A pair of Nancy ware corner wall brackets of architectural designs, decorated in colours with a representation of
house martin’s nest and young
87
(An earthenware dish and cover in the form of a lamb, said to be faience of Castelli) and a ‘Nancy’ ware model of
a cat)
89
A small table mirror in a Nancy ware frame, Paris Exhibition, 1867
Detail from a Sèvres porcelain vase ‘de blois’ 1901, decorated with birds and flowers by
Gébleux. The vase was described as being decorated with couleurs sous couverte repris
en couleurs sur couverte grand feu (colours under and above the glaze, fired at a high
temperature). It was presented by the French government to the University of London in
August 1906, when it was valued at 2,250 francs.

Emile Gallé - RED SQUARE DESIGN

Transcription

Similar documents

Notes on shippo

1994 - 2000 - . . 1846 . . . Location: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll

Baby Shower Packages - Children`s Museum of Phoenix

Homecoming Packet 2015-2016 - Meeting Portal

TAC Update 2/19/16

PIONEERS AND DRIFTERS, COWBOYS AND INDIANS

HP-U-505 MSI.indd

Nancy Levin Zizmor [76] tells us that her hob

Memberships from Coast to Coast and Everywhere In Between