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Émile Gallé "Ombelliféres" Fruitwood Marquetry Vitrine
$39,500
This "Ombelliféres" vitrine, by Émile Gallé, crafted from carved and fruitwood inlaid marquetry, sits on four sinuously carved feet. This masterpiece can be considered an homage to the often under-appreciated beauty of the umbel flower. Carved in full relief, umbel flowers decorate the top and bottom of the vitrine, while the back panel of the vitrine unusually comprised of a single composition in marquetry, only slightly disrupted by the narrow shelves that neatly divide the depiction of a large umbel in various shades of inlaid wood.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: F-16631
Artist: Émile Gallé
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 58.25" height, 25" width, 18" depth
Materials: Fruitwood marquetry
Signed: "Gallé"
Literature: Similar vitrine pictured in Gallé Furniture, by Alastair Duncan and Georges de Bartha, Woodbridge, Antique Collector's Club, 2012, p. 307, pl. 42
The vitrine's front marquetry panel features three umbels composed in a similar manner to Kitao Shigemasa's "Tree Peony and Finch." Kitao Shigemasa was a Japanese artist in the late 18th century, and was one of the leading printmakers of his day. In the late 19th century, around the turn of the 20th century, many major artist movements, including but not limited to the Art Nouveau and Impressionist movements, felt great influence from the Japanese woodblock prints from the previous century that were widely circulated for the first time at this time.