Galle, Emile (Charles Martin)
(b Nancy, 4 May 1846; d Nancy, 23 Sept 1904).

French glassmaker, potter and cabinetmaker. He was the son of Charles Galle-Reinemer, a manufacturer of ceramics and glass in Nancy, and as early as 1865 he started working for his father, designing floral decoration. From 1862 to 1866 he studied philosophy, botany and mineralogy in Weimar, and from 1866--7 he was employed by the Burgun, Schwerer & Cie glassworks in Meisenthal. On his return to Nancy he worked in his father's workshops at Saint-Clement designing faience tableware. In 1871 he travelled to London to represent the family firm at the International Exhibition. During his stay he visited the decorative arts collections at the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum), familiarizing himself with Chinese, Japanese and Islamic styles. He was particularly impressed with the Islamic enamelled ware, which influenced his early work. In 1874, after his father's retirement, he established his own small glass workshop in Nancy and assumed the management of the family business.

Galle's work reflects the contemporary interest in botany and entomology, and he turned his knowledge and studies to revitalizing the decorative arts. At the Exposition Universelle of 1878 in Paris, Galle exhibited pieces made in the 'clair-de-lune' technique: glass was coloured with traces of cobalt oxide, which produced a sapphire hue. From c. 1884 Galle produced his first verreries parlantes, which were inscribed with quotations from poems and prose by such writers as Francois Villon (e.g. 'La Ballade des dames du temps jadis', 1884; Nancy, Mus. Ecole Nancy). Galle first exhibited this glass in 1884 at the Union Centrale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, where he showed over 300 pieces of glass and ceramics, for which he was awarded a gold medal. Perhaps Galle's greatest innovation was his development of cameo glass: the inspiration for this type of glass came from the Chinese cased glass of the Qian long period (1736--96). Two or more fused layers of coloured glass were painted with an acid-resistant material and then immersed in an acid bath. The decoration was revealed in low relief and then carved to highlight the motifs (e.g. 'Jardiniere', 1884; Paris, Mus. A. Dec.). Galle experimented with a variety of techniques and also with metal foils and coloured oxides for their decorative effects and exploited such imperfections as crazing and air bubbles in order to create novel and often surreal effects.

In the late 1880s Galle opened a studio for the production of furniture and first exhibited examples at the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris. Galle's furniture was generally traditional in form but enhanced with complex marquetry decoration using a variety of indigenous and exotic woods and inlaid with mother-of-pearl and hardstones (e.g. buffet, 1904; Paris, Mus. d'Orsay). His decoration included such popular Art Nouveau motifs as dragonflies and water-lilies. Victor Prouve (see Prouve) and Louis Hestaux assisted with the design for much of the sculpture, marquetry and inlay of the furniture. From c. 1897 Galle developed his technique of marqueterie de verre, which was inspired by his involvement in wood marquetry. Motifs of hot glass were impressed on to the body of coloured glass, and once the body had cooled the inlaid pieces were lightly carved into relief.

Galle manufactured three types of products: his so-called 'industrial' production began c. 1890, and signed vases in simplified shapes and colours were produced in large quantities; and his more complex and sophisticated limited editions (called 'semi-rich') and his pieces uniques were executed by himself (as seen in the portrait of Galle by Prouve, 1892; Nancy, Mus. Ecole Nancy; see fig.) or by highly skilled craftsmen. By 1894 Galle was managing a burgeoning business with over 300 employees. Galle triumphed at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris, presenting a retrospective of his career and a working furnace at which the art of glassmaking was demonstrated. Galle's talent was now widely recognized, and he was elected to the Legion d'honneur. In 1901 Galle was responsible for the creation of the Alliance Provinciale des Industries d'Art (later called the Ecole de Nancy) to which Auguste Daum, Louis Majorelle and Prouve also belonged. After 1901 Galle was ill with leukaemia, but he nevertheless remained productive and innovative both from a technical and decorative point of view; for example, he adapted his production for electric lighting (e.g. 'Les Coprins', 1904; Nancy, Mus. Ecole Nancy). After Galle's death in 1904, the business was continued under the artistic direction of Prouve until 1913. Production finally ceased in 1931, and the shop closed in 1935.

WRITINGS
Ecrits pour l'art (Paris, 1908)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. Marx: 'Emile Galle: Psychologie de l'artiste et synthese de l'oeuvre', A. & Dec. (1911)
P. Garner: Emile Galle (Paris, 1977)
B. Hakenjos: 'Emile Galle', Keramik, Glas und Mobel des Art Nouveau (Cologne, 1982)
Emile Galle: Dreams into Glass (exh. cat. by W. Warmus, Corning, NY, Mus. Glass, 1984)

ELISABETH LEBOVICI

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