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Antique Glass

Art Glass was an area in which the ‘Arte Moderne’ style found tremendous expression. Combining beauty, delicacy and exquisite design, the bold use of colour made a statement that no longer relied on the constraints of classical teachings. This made way for exciting innovation that captured the fervour of the era by drawing on far reaching influences including Japanese, Egyptian, South American and African art forms to produce a seething cauldron of hypnotic beauty. The most famous glassworks of the time include Galle, Daum, Loetz and Lalique and the avid collector now has the opportunity to put together a dazzling display unrivalled in later years.

Daum Frères

French, Late 19th Century - The Daum brothers, Auguste and Antonin, started their famous glass works around 1880. They starting with enamelled and engraved "Art Nouveau" style vases, they moved on to become one of the major forces in the Art Nouveau movement. Works normally signed Daum Nancy. Daum's unique technique common to all was that a clear vessel was blown with colour only on the inner surface or layer. An acid resist landscape was painted free-hand onto the vessel which was then etched by plunging into a hydrofluoric acid bath. The outer surface was then polished which gave the trees a 'third dimension' as the onlooker can see through the clear glass to the inner colour. Then the background was frosted, tricking the eye into thinking it is seeing coloured glass. Three types of enamel were painted by the artist to complete the design: transparent enamel for the three dimensional trees, opaque enamel for the snow or the ground and a polychrome enamel for the details in the distance which could be hills or trees. Finally the piece was reintroduced to the heat to anneal the enamels with the base glass. Some very rare examples such as the 'Deep Winter' design had an additional and more complicated process of applying a layer of cameo glass to the outer body before painting the acid resist. This had the effect of giving a more dense layer of snow or summer fields that could be further worked to give additional features in the landscape. The landscape vases of Daum were always examples of excellence and the skill of several different craftsmen.

Emile Gallé

French, 1846 to 1904, An artist, botanist and furniture designer, Gallé was the most famous of the Nancy Art Nouveau Glass-makers. He is best known for his Cameo Glass, which is made by layering coloured glass, using acid to remove part of the layers and on the better pieces adding wheel carved detail. His work normally signed Gallé in relief. Born in Nancy, France, in 1846, Emile Gallé is considered one of the most outstanding glass artists of his time, as he greatly contributed to the development of the art of glassmaking and to the Art Nouveau Style. He traveled in Paris, London and Weimar after his training, which included art, botany, and chemistry, and began producing fine pottery, furniture and jewelry. In 1873 he set up his own glass studio and a year later he took over his father's glass and ceramics factory in Nancy. At the 1878 International Exhibition in Paris he was inspired by the glass works of some of his contemporaries. At the Paris International Exhibition in 1889, he presented his own new types of glass, including carved cameo and pate de verre work, new shapes of vases and extraordinary new colors. In 1901, he founded "L'Ecole de Nancy". Throughout the 1890's in his "Cristallerie d'Emile Gallé", he created abundant new glassworks and therefore employed a team of craftsmen-designers, who worked on his designs and applied his signature after his approval. In those years, he also exhibited his Art Nouveau works with great success, thus winning international awards, recognition through commissions and increased popular demand. After his death in 1904, his widow continued to run the glassworks until the outbreak of war in 1914, all the glass sold being marked with a star after his signature. The Gallé glassware, mainly made by acid etching on two and three layer cameo glass with landscape and floral designs, continued to be made until 1935, when the firm closed down.

Johann Loetz

The glass factory, originally founded in 1836 by Johann Baptist Eisner, was taken over by Susanna Loetz, widow of Glass entrepreneur Johann Loetz in 1852. She renamed the company "Glasfabrik Johann Loetz Witwe", a name that was retained until all activities were stopped in 1947. In 1879 it passed to Max Ritter von Spaun. Under his guidance, together with director Eduard Prochaska, the glassworks flourished as never before and enjoyed its most successful period. In 1898, after several years of experimentation with variations in firing, the Company patented a technique to produce the deep blue or gold metallic luster for which Loetz is known all over the world. But it is with Art Nouveau, that Loetz entered on the world scene. At the world Exhibition of Paris in 1900, Loetz shared the first prize with other famous Art Nouveau glassware makers as Tiffany, Gallé and Daum. Although many view Loetz glass as an attempt to emulate Tiffany, it was the other way round, with the American Tiffany to be impressed by Loetz wares. Typical of Loetz glassware is the special iridiscence that gives to most of their glassware a "special touch" of colour and surface. The peacock green and blue iridescent surfaces are always popular. Loetz also pioneered the use of electrolytic deposit techniques, patenting many processes. Typical of Art Nouveau glasses are also the inventive forms used by Loetz many inspired by Persian and Roman glasses. Other motives are found in Nature such as the original "goose-neck" and "Tulip" vases.

René Lalique

French, 1860 to 1945, the most famous glass maker whose work spans both Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods. Lalique's art glass creations drew much of their influence from nature. Born in 1860 Lalique first began designing fine jewellery in Paris in 1881. He pursued increasingly more innovative experimentation in glass commencing around 1883. Early works used the familiar "lost wax" technique by which the model is made in wax while a mold is formed around the model, the wax is then melted and molten glass is poured into the mold. Lalique glass was made in this manner until approximately 1905 at which time the factory was redesigned for a larger production. The success of this venture resulted in the opening of his own glassworks at Combs-la-Ville in 1909. During the Art Nouveau period, Lalique was well known for a wide variety of objects including perfume bottles, vases, inkwells, decorative boxes, and bookends. In 1921 a larger factory was established at Wingen-sur-Moder in Alsace-Lorraine. By the '30s, Rene Lalique was world renowned as the most important designer of his time. Lalique glass is lead based, either mold blown or pressed. Favoured motifs during the Art Nouveau period were dancing nymphs, fish, dragonflies, and foliage. Characteristically the glass is crystal in combination with acid-etched relief. Later some items were made in as many as ten colors (red, amber, and green among them) and were occasionally accented with enameling. During the '20s and '30s, Lalique designed several vases and bowls developing a line in the Art Deco style decorated with stylized birds, florals, and geometries. In addition to vases, clocks, automobile mascots, stemware, and bottles, many other useful objects were produced. Most glass was clear or opalescent glass and signed via engraving or in the mould "R. Lalique". The R. Lalique signature was only used until 1945 with the death of Rene. At that time, Rene Lalique's son Marc took over the company and the signature dropped the 'R' to become 'Lalique ~ France'. Production of many pieces produced prior to 1945 ceased following Rene's death although some are still in production albeit with a different signature. The firm is still in operation today.