Ref.11448
Nature made vase, (Attributed to) Émile GALLÉ for the Lunéville factory

Dated between 1863 and 1880, this vase is attributed to the great Nancy ceramist and master glassmaker Emile Gallé. It was most certainly published by Keller and Guérin, owners of the Lunéville factory, before Gallé registered his own models. In a very sophisticated shape, our vase has a quadrilobed body decorated with branches, leaves and butterflies in gold and silver colors on a Prussian blue background. The vase rests on a base imitating branches, very naturalistic, evoking Gallé's studies of foliage and flowers preserved at the Musée d'Orsay. The Parisian institution also has a preparatory drawing by Gallé for a piece close to our vase.Dated between 1863 and 1880, this vase is attributed to the great Nancy ceramist and master glassmaker Emile Gallé. It was most certainly published by Keller and Guérin, owners of the Lunéville factory, before Gallé registered his own models. In a very sophisticated shape, our vase has a quadrilobed body decorated with branches, leaves and butterflies in gold and silver colors on a Prussian blue background. The vase rests on a base imitating branches, very naturalistic, evoking Gallé's studies of foliage and flowers preserved at the Musée d'Orsay. The Parisian institution also has a preparatory drawing by Gallé for a piece close to our vase.

Ref.15210
Théodore Deck, Vase with flowers and butterflies, c. 1880

This glazed ceramic vase was made by Théodore Deck around 1880. Théodore Deck initially trained as a stove maker. When he set up in Paris on his own account in 1858, he made stove linings and then, on the strength of his success, moved into ceramics. He gradually perfected his technique and enjoyed great success at the many World’s Fairs he took part in. In 1878, he was made an Officer of the Légion d'Honneur. He ran the Sèvres factory between 1887 and his death in 1891. The body of this vase features a naturalistic design of flowers, flanked by two butterflies and a dragonfly. On an aubergine-coloured background, iris flowers unfurl on one side and a tree branch with colourful blossoms on the other. The leaves add to the polychromy: they come in different shades of green, from khaki to emerald, and some are even "Deck blue", a colour so characteristic of the artist's work that it bears his name. All the decorations are bordered by a thin yellow border in relief. The vase has two ferocious-looking roaring lion heads as handles. The neck is decorated with geometric friezes, while the inside of the vase is lined with a Deck blue glaze. The piece is stamped under the base: "TH. DECK". It can be dated to the artist's Far Eastern period. Japanese art began to influence Deck's work after Japan's participation in the 1867 Universal Exhibition. Fascinated by this art, the ceramist collected numerous works and drew inspiration from them for his own pieces. Here, he uses the manganese-coloured background of certain Japanese vases, as well as the lack of depth that characterises Japanese prints. The flowering tree motif is also characteristic of Far Eastern art. Finally, the butterfly is a symbol of happiness and immortality in this culture. A vase of a very similar shape, with a Japanese-style decoration of poppy flowers and lion's head handles identical to our own, is in Peter Marino's collection.