RARE WORLD WAR I GALLÉ CAMEO GLASS VASE

Estimate

€5,000 - €8,000

RARE WORLD WAR I GALLÉ CAMEO GLASS VASE

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ÉTABLISSEMENTS, NANCY, WAR IN THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS

Circa 1915, A tall and finely worked Gallé cameo glass vase, acid-etched and wheel-carved with a sombre Vosges mountain forest scene, depicting two Chasseurs Alpins, one standing with rifle at rest and a second figure crouched beside him. The composition presents the quiet aftermath of battle rather than combat itself, the soldiers rendered as watchful presences within an idealised yet scarred fir woodland landscape.

This design belongs to a documented series of war-themed vases produced by the Établissements Gallé during the spring and early summer of 1915 and exhibited at the Gallé shop in Nancy in August of that year, as reviewed by the art critic Émile Nicolas in L’Étoile de l’Est (8 August 1915). The subject relates to the Vosges front, notably the battles of the Hartmannswillerkopf, and the distinctive beret worn by the figures firmly dates the design to the early phase of the conflict, prior to the introduction of helmets in 1916.

Produced in very limited numbers due to wartime disruption, material shortages, and the brief duration of this commemorative series, Gallé’s World War I vases are among the rarest and most historically resonant works of the École de Nancy, combining Art Nouveau glassmaking with contemporary wartime memory.

Provenance: Château de Chalain.
GLASS 51.5 cm; 15 cm. wide Tuesday 10th March 2026 10:17:06