Lot 63
AN IMPRESSIVE 'GALLÉ' PERSIAN-STYLE ENAMELLED GLASS BASIN
FRANCE, 19TH CENTURY
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
of circular form with upright sides and two handles, the brownish clear glass painted with allover polychrome enamels, the decoration consisting of two large cusped medallions, one containing a prince on an elephant and the other containing a prince on horseback, the remainder of the surface containing large scrolls of split-palmettes on a ground of dense floral and leafy motifs, signed on the right hind of the elephant
Dimensions
15cm high, 40cm diameter
Footnote
The shape of the bowl takes after an early Islamic Metalwork bucket or basin.
Introduced to the glass of Islam by Phillipe Joseph Brocard, Émile Gallé is considered one of the most outstanding glass artists of his time and a pioneer of the Art Nouveau movement. He travelled in Paris, London and Weimar after his training, which included art, botany, and chemistry, and began producing fine pottery, furniture and jewellery. Gallé's early work in the 1880s frequently borrowed motifs from Indo-Persian miniatures and Islamic calligraphy.