GALLE EMILE: (1846-1904) French artist and designer who worked in glass, considered one of the major innovators in the French Art Nouveau movement. An excellent Autograph Manuscript Signed, Emile Galle (in the third person to the title page and also within the text), twenty pages (including the title page), 4to (and a few smaller), n.p. (Nancy), n.d. (1884), in French. The manuscript, largely penned to the versos of Galle's personal printed stationery, is the artist's working draft (containing numerous corrections) of his report to the jury of the Central Union of the Decorative Arts VIII Exposition on the production and manufacture of his glass, including various specimens, and featuring details of the technical procedures of decoration and the diverse new applications derived from it, in particular new glass colouration including double and triple marbled glass, precious stone imitations, the use of air bubbles, extension of the palette of opaque enamels on glass, the use of transparent and translucent enamels on glass (other than cobalt oxide enamel), rare and strange decorations and new engraving procedures etc., in part, 'The exhibitor presents this year some tones coloured from the block (chrome oxide, iron oxide and diverse combinations of iron oxide, cobalt, manganese); some free imitations of precious stones, transparent, translucent or marbled with opaque veins. These colourations are obtained by introduction of diverse oxides and metallic salts in the glass, of opal glasses, and glasses coloured with gold or copper oxide….He still presents glasses with the introduction of gold sheets, platinum, finally some doublets and triplets with marbled sheet. Some specimens offer absolutely new effects, unprecedented use of which, neither modern or antique, offer any example…..the exhibitor asks the jury to examine the following samples…..Octopus light cigar case….cylindrical pot and tray…..basin with glass stopper, sapphirine colour, or blue quartz colour (composition based on potash) with translucent enamels…..Emile Galle incidentally reminds that glass, coloured with a small quantity of cobalt oxide in a pretty sapphire tone, colour which was since vulgarised by some French and foreign glass manufacturers, was emitted by him in 1878…..(and)…..commercialised by him under the name Clair de Lune, it was produced successively in Germany under the name Mondschein and in England under that of Moonlight Glass. A sample of this shade can be seen in the Decorative Arts museum……Marbled glasses with purple and bluish colours disclose the presence of gold. These marbling are yellowish when seen by reflection and red or pink by refraction…..These colours, interesting from the point of view of techniques, are not less interesting as regards decoration for the resources they offer the artist. Unfortunately, in considering the industrial use only, this procedure does not seem very practical, its effect being too variable…..it still requires some spendings of imagination to create interesting subjects out of their strange shapes…..The exhibitor also presents some tinted glasses containing gold and platinum sheets introduced in the glass in order to serve as foreground to enamels…..all the exhibitors decorations are handmade……The vivid desire to create….enamels on glass, a production with a really modern and French character, has led the exhibitor to research the colours that neither the Damas or Venise enamellers, nor the German painters have used in their productions, some reds and blues for example, some blacks, yellows and greens, some purples, pinks and violets, and most of all half tones, fine and broken shades, greys, flesh and ivory tones. Their judicious use, without dashing the decoration of the glass, can add to it a certain piquant…..diverse appropriateness between the decoration and the objects' destination had led Galle to research other translucent enamels than the old and magnificent blue derived from cobalt. Some objects having to represent the decorations by refraction as well as by reflection, it became necessary to enlarge the enamel palette in a sense contrary to opacity…..Emile Galle pays the greatest attention to the composition of the drawings intended to be executed in touret engraving. He never uses the fluor hydric acid engraving. It can be no use to him in the artistic effects he is searching for…..' Within the draft Galle details over eighty glass objects that he is presenting at the exposition including vases, scent bottles, bowls, tankards, goblets, cornets, a clock (made for the Queen of Italy), jugs, wine glasses etc. A manuscript of fascinating content and accompanied by a vintage unsigned 5 x 8.5 cabinet photograph, the albumen print by Otto Wegener of Paris depicting Galle in a head and shoulders pose and with the photographer's imprint to the lower mount. Some light overall age wear and a few creases and small tears (most noticeable to the left edge of the title page). G to VG, 2
