Lot: 94

Henri Bergé
'Iris' vase, 1906-12

In blossom shape with asymmetrical top rim. H. 31 cm. Made by Daum Frères, Nancy. Overlaid glass. In the lower area with deep blue, above that with bluish white marbled powder inclusions. Elaborate sculptural glass applications. One large and one smaller iris blossom in blue, one daffodil in yellow and elongated leaves in green with yellow spots. The pond landscape in sculptural relief finished in elaborate wheel carving. Foot in overlaid glass with green powder inclusions and applications. Signed on the node: DAUM NANCY, cross of Lorraine (engraved).

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Hammer Price: 18,000 €

159B - Art Nouveau - Art Deco Part I
16. November 2021 at 4:00 PM CET

Literature:

The vase is a rarity of the highest artistic and technical quality. Its asymmetrical and irregular shape is extraordinary and shows a special sculptural pursuit of art. In the international museum landscape and in specialist literature, only a few vases or cups with a similar shape are known. The comparable specimens in the Hentrich Glass Museum in Düsseldorf or in the Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy are each decorated with different decors.

It can be assumed that these specially shaped and technically complex manufactured glass objects were produced as individual pieces. The 'Iris' vase is very likely to be a one-of-a-kind specimen, which was made as a testimony to special craftsmanship for an international exhibition or exhibition in the field of handicrafts between 1910 and 1912.

The 'Iris' vase, designed in the shape of a stylized flower, adorns a sketched pond landscape with irises and a daffodil growing on the banks, which are designed as reliefs made of colored glass. The particularly complex technique of application requires repeated heating of the vessel that serves as a carrier for the plants with their colored flowers, buds and leaves. After the three-dimensional decoration had cooled down, it was reworked with the high-cut grinding wheel.

The vase is certainly an extraordinary achievement by the glassworks, in which the design of the shape has been enhanced by the free shaping of the decoration. With decorative glasses like the 'Iris' vase, the Daum brothers and their colleagues were able to step out of the often alleged shadow of Emile Gallé.

Cf. Ricke/Schmitt, Glass collection Gerda Koepff, Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, Munich 1998, no. 119; cf. Daum, Maîtres verriers, Lausanne 1980, p. 78f.