Daum Nancy "Algues et Poissons" Enamel and Cameo Glass Vase
Regular price
$22,500
Created in 1898, Daum Nancy’s Algues et Poissons (“Algae and Fish”) vase transforms layered crystal into a luminous underwater world. Sea-green glass frit, trapped air bubbles, reddish-brown algae inclusions, gold leaf, acid etching, enamel decoration, and wheel-carved striations create extraordinary depth and movement. The scene features Japanese yellowtail (hamachi), white crucian carp (funa), tilefish (shiro-amadai), largehead hairtail (tachiuo), a hermit crab, and various seaweeds, including feather boa kelp, dillisk, serrated wrack, and red algae. Through transparency, refraction, and layered construction, Daum creates the illusion of fish and vegetation suspended at different depths within a three-dimensional aquatic environment.
Item #: YG-22157
Artist: Daum Nancy
Country: France
Circa: 1898
Dimensions: 6.5" height, 5.5" diameter.
Materials: Cameo Glass, Enamel
Signed: signed in gold “Daum Nancy” with the Croix de Lorraine
Literature: Helmut Ricke and Eva Schmitt, Glas des Art Nouveau: Die Sammlung Gerda Koepff, Munich, 1998, pp. 192 (for a drawing of the model) and 193
Item #: YG-22157
Artist: Daum Nancy
Country: France
Circa: 1898
Dimensions: 6.5" height, 5.5" diameter.
Materials: Cameo Glass, Enamel
Signed: signed in gold “Daum Nancy” with the Croix de Lorraine
Literature: Helmut Ricke and Eva Schmitt, Glas des Art Nouveau: Die Sammlung Gerda Koepff, Munich, 1998, pp. 192 (for a drawing of the model) and 193
Although the vase appears naturalistic, its ecosystem is intentionally impossible, combining freshwater and marine species that would not coexist in nature. Scholars believe Daum drew inspiration from Japanese visual culture, particularly Edo-period surimono prints and botanical studies of pressed seaweed, rather than from an actual habitat. The carved surface lines echo Japanese printmakers’ methods for depicting currents and waves, causing the imagery to appear animated as the viewer moves around the vase. Rather than recreating a real seabed, Daum assembled an imagined Japan from artistic motifs and transformed them into a glass aquarium of light, depth, and motion.
Although the vase appears naturalistic, its ecosystem is intentionally impossible, combining freshwater and marine species that would not coexist in nature. Scholars believe Daum drew inspiration from Japanese visual culture, particularly Edo-period surimono prints and botanical studies of pressed seaweed, rather than from an actual habitat. The carved surface lines echo Japanese printmakers’ methods for depicting currents and waves, causing the imagery to appear animated as the viewer moves around the vase. Rather than recreating a real seabed, Daum assembled an imagined Japan from artistic motifs and transformed them into a glass aquarium of light, depth, and motion.
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