émile Gallé 1900 French Art Nouveau Glass Table Lamp Floral Decor, Cyclamen

Émile Gallé, Nancy – Mushroom Table Lamp, Multi-Layer Carved Glass, Maple and Cyclamen Décor, circa 1900 Émile Gallé, Nancy · École de Nancy · Multi-Layer Carved Glass · Signed on Shade and Base · Lifetime Production

A mushroom-form table lamp comprising a flattened spherical base and a hemispherical shade in multi-layer glass, acid and wheel-carved, on a warm amber-yellow ground with a deep bordeaux-brown and carmine red overlay: broad maple leaves (Acer) in dense silhouette with sinuous branches, and cyclamen flowers (Cyclamen) with characteristically reflexed petals in bright carmine red. Shade diameter approx. 28.5 cm · total height approx. 32.3 cm. Original period gilt brass mount with three curved Art Nouveau arms, original twisted silk cord. Signature Gallé carved in reserve on both the shade and the base — without star, confirming production during Émile Gallé's lifetime, before September 1904.

When lit, the lamp diffuses a warm amber light that causes the carmine red of the cyclamen to glow incandescently through the yellow glass — a visual effect of an intensity unique to Gallé, impossible to reproduce in cold light.

Émile Gallé (Nancy, 8 May 1846 – Nancy, 23 September 1904), glassmaker, cabinet-maker and ceramicist, is the central figure of French Art Nouveau and founder in 1901 of the École de Nancy. The son of a faience and furniture manufacturer, he studied botany, philosophy and the arts, then learned glassmaking at Meisenthal before taking over the family atelier in Nancy. His work — multi-layer cameo glass carved or acid-etched, forms inspired by nature, botanical symbolism — was celebrated at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878 and brought him immediate international recognition. His works are held in the collections of the Musée de l'École de Nancy, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the world's leading decorative arts museums.

After his death in 1904, his widow Henriette Gallé and his son-in-law Paul Perdrizet continued production until 1931 — posthumous pieces bearing a star (*) after the signature. The absence of a star on the present lamp confirms its production during the master's lifetime.

• Shade diameter: approx. 28.5 cm · Total height: approx. 32.3 cm
• Technique: multi-layer glass, acid and wheel-carved · amber-yellow ground · bordeaux and carmine red overlay
• Decoration: maple leaves (Acer) and cyclamen flowers (Cyclamen)
• Signature: Gallé carved in reserve on shade and base
• Authenticity: no star after signature — production during Émile Gallé's lifetime, before September 1904 · original period mount
• Mount: gilt brass · three curved Art Nouveau arms · original twisted cord
• Design and execution: Émile Gallé, Nancy, circa 1900
• Condition: very good · vivid colours · electrified

Seen in museums — available to you.

Available for viewing by appointment at our Düsseldorf gallery.

Keywords integrated: Émile Gallé Nancy, mushroom lamp cameo glass, maple cyclamen décor, École de Nancy, French Art Nouveau 1900, Musée d'Orsay, multi-layer carved glass, Gallé signature no star, lifetime production