Dragonfly & Fairy Art Nouveau Plaque by Delphin Massier

Note: We highly recommend shipping through 1stDibs for its cost effectiveness, full insurance coverage, and reliable handling. While standard parcel services are an option, the defau...

Note: We highly recommend shipping through 1stDibs for its cost effectiveness, full insurance coverage, and reliable handling. While standard parcel services are an option, the defau...

Note: We highly recommend shipping through 1stDibs for its cost effectiveness, full insurance coverage, and reliable handling. While standard parcel services are an option, the default quote does not include packing and insurance. 1stDibs shipping provides a level of value, protection, and care that aligns with our commitment to safeguarding historic artworks and providing excellent client service. Created while a lead designer for J. Winhart & Co., Ludwig Vierthaler’s cicada themed copper vase showcases the design principles which he developed at J. Winhart in the pre-war years, where emphasis was placed on craftsmanship and the characteristics of the material itself. The vase’s ambiguous quality and use of allegory also shows his uncanny understanding of the dual nature of German life at the time. On the one hand, under Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany was asserting herself strongly in the Weltpolitik through alliances with other central-European powers and in making grand plans to grow in military strength. With hindsight, Vierthaler’s vase is all the more remarkable for his prescience in the twilight of an empire. By presenting a cicada, he evokes a conundrum. Is this cicada a strong adult, newly emerged from a long dormancy? Or is this the cicada...

An encounter with Massier’s luster-glazed ceramics is an embarkation on an acid-colored trip, the sort of exploration which inspires deep reflection and requires transparency. Clemen...

Rare French Art Nouveau Terracotta Wall Plaque, Early 20th Century A beautifully detailed and rare French Art Nouveau terracotta wall plaque, dating from the early 20th century. Thi...

This rare satin art glass medallion executed in relief depicts a fairy or a nympf designed as a young woman with dragonfly wings. It is signed Stalin at the bottom right for Gabriel ...

Art Nouveau Émile Gallé Dragonfly and Thistles Soliflore (Bud Vase) Multi-Color Enamel over Clear Art Glass Nancy, France Circa 1900 DIMENSIONS Height: 3.25 inches Max. Diameter: 2.75 inches Opening Diameter: 0.75 inches MARKINGS Signed in enamel at the base, bearing the mark “E. Gallé de Nancy.” MATERIALS Multi-color enamel on clear art glass CONDITION Excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, or restorations. ABOUT “The aim of my work is the study of nature, the love of nature's art and the need to express what one feels in one's heart.” – Emile Gallé A rare and exquisite cabinet-sized soliflore by Émile Gallé, exemplifying the highest artistic standards of early French Art Nouveau. The vase displays an exceptional and sculpturally sophisticated form—its body conceived as a sphere discreetly contained within a smaller cube—resulting in sensuously rounded, perfectly balanced contours that are both visually arresting and elegantly understated. The clear glass body is decorated with finely rendered, hand-applied enamels depicting a dragonfly in flight among mountain grasses and thistles—a lyrical theme central to Gallé’s celebration of the natural world. The composition is executed with subtle tonal gradations and refined brushwork, capturing both the delicate movement and the ephemeral beauty of the scene. A museum-quality example, notable for its rare form, poetic decoration, and intimate scale. A superb addition to any serious Art Nouveau or Gallé collection. ABOUT ARTIST Émile Gallé Gallé (French, 1846 – 1904) Emile Galle was a French glass and ceramic designer who combined art and botany. Most of his glass vases are created in Art Nouveau style. Born on May 4, 1846 in Nancy, France, Émile Gallé seemed destined for a career in glassmaking. Nancy was well-established for its glass artistry, and his father, Charles Gallé was an established faïence (ceramic) and glassmaker with his own successful manufactory, the Maison Gallé-Reinemer. It would be here under the guidance of his father that the young Emile began to learn the art of glassmaking while simultaneously indulging his academic interests in philosophy, botany and chemistry. In 1867, Gallé joined his father working full-time at the Maison. Gallé's glasswork, even at its earliest stages, was heavily influenced by nature, with his very first pieces incorporating enameled floral motifs painted upon clear glass. He was an avid botanist his entire life, collecting plants, flowers, and insects from which to study and draw inspiration. He was even elected Secretary-General for Nancy's Société centrale d'horticulture. Gallé traveled throughout Europe studying works at museums and private institutions, gaining insight from ancient glass antiquities to Japonesque masterpieces, and everything in between. It would be Gallé’s trip to the British Museum in 1871 that would alter the course of his art career. Enamored by the famed ancient Roman cameo glass...

French Art Nouveau Bronze card tray or Pin Tray, Vide - Poche, 1920s This absolutely adorable card tray or pin tray, Vide - Poche, is made of bronze ...