Émile Gallé "Umbel" Table Lamp
Regular price
$100,000
The base of this Émile Gallé lamp is modeled after the leaves of the broadleaf plantain, their gently undulating surfaces articulated with characteristic bumps and strong parallel venation. These leaves rise and curl around a glass stem ornamented with the sinuous form of an umbellifer’s stalk. The shade is acid-etched with the inverted silhouette of an umbel, its radiating structure delicately rendered. The supporting arms and shade holders take the form of opium poppy seed pods, completing a composition that transforms botanical observation into sculptural design.
Item #: EL-22398
Artist: Émile Gallé
Country: France
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 29.5" height, 14.5" diameter.
Materials: acid-etched and wheel-polished glass, blown glass, patinated metal
Signed: shade signed in cameo Gallé
Literature: Philippe Garner, Emile Gallé, New York, 1976, p. 48
Alastair Duncan and Georges de Bartha, Gallé Lamps, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2014, pp. 28-29 (for the shade and variants of the base model)
Item #: EL-22398
Artist: Émile Gallé
Country: France
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 29.5" height, 14.5" diameter.
Materials: acid-etched and wheel-polished glass, blown glass, patinated metal
Signed: shade signed in cameo Gallé
Literature: Philippe Garner, Emile Gallé, New York, 1976, p. 48
Alastair Duncan and Georges de Bartha, Gallé Lamps, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2014, pp. 28-29 (for the shade and variants of the base model)
Émile Gallé emerged in the final decades of the 19th century as one of the most inventive forces in Art Nouveau lighting design, transforming the electric lamp into a poetic fusion of nature, symbolism, and technical innovation. Working primarily in Nancy, he developed richly atmospheric lighting objects that combined his mastery of glass with deeply studied botanical forms, often drawn from local flora and symbolic plants. In his later career, before his death in 1904, Gallé refined his approach to glass lighting by using layered, acid-etched, and cameo-cut surfaces that modulated electric light into a warm, diffused glow rather than a harsh modern glare. These lamps frequently incorporated sculptural bases and shades inspired by stems, blossoms, and aquatic plants, turning functional objects into immersive natural tableaux. His lighting designs from this period reflect both his increasing technical sophistication and his emotional engagement with themes of life, fragility, and decay, marking a culmination of his vision that helped define the decorative language of Art Nouveau.
Émile Gallé emerged in the final decades of the 19th century as one of the most inventive forces in Art Nouveau lighting design, transforming the electric lamp into a poetic fusion of nature, symbolism, and technical innovation. Working primarily in Nancy, he developed richly atmospheric lighting objects that combined his mastery of glass with deeply studied botanical forms, often drawn from local flora and symbolic plants. In his later career, before his death in 1904, Gallé refined his approach to glass lighting by using layered, acid-etched, and cameo-cut surfaces that modulated electric light into a warm, diffused glow rather than a harsh modern glare. These lamps frequently incorporated sculptural bases and shades inspired by stems, blossoms, and aquatic plants, turning functional objects into immersive natural tableaux. His lighting designs from this period reflect both his increasing technical sophistication and his emotional engagement with themes of life, fragility, and decay, marking a culmination of his vision that helped define the decorative language of Art Nouveau.
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