CHAUVES-SOURIS TABLE LAMP, CIRCA 1900

Details

EMILE GALLÉ
CHAUVES-SOURIS TABLE LAMP, CIRCA 1900
glass, cased and wheel-carved with martelé surface, mounted on cast bronze base
13½ in. (34.3 cm.) high
engraved mark Gallé

Provenance

Private Collection, Switzerland Christie's Geneva, Art Nouveau & Art Deco, 28th November, 1982, lot 322
Lotar and Vera Neumann Collection; The Neumann Foundation, Lausanne

Literature

Alastair Duncan & Georges de Bartha, Glass by Gallé, London, 1984, p. 172
Georges de Bartha, L'Art 1900, Lausanne, 1993, p. 108

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

According to the former employee of the Gallé glassworks René Dezavelle the prototype for this design was initially decorated with a swarm of black moths. However, this initial design proved to be unpopular due to the fact that in folklore black moths were thought to represent the illness of neurasthenia. As a result the design was modified and the moths were replaced with bats. This version became very popular, but was only available for a short period of time. Due to the exorbitant engraving costs incurred in its creation, the design was discontinued following Emile Gallé's death in 1904.

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