“Art for art’s sake” was a belief strongly espoused by the celebrated French designer and glassworker Émile Gallé. Through his ethereal glass vases, other vessels and lamps, which he adorned with botanical and religious motifs, Gallé advanced the Art Nouveau ideology and led the modern renaissance of French glass.
Gallé was the son of successful faience and furniture maker Charles Gallé but studied philosophy and botany before coming to glassmaking later in life. The young Gallé’s expertise in botany, however, would inform his design style and become his signature for generations to come.
After learning the art of glassmaking, Gallé went to work at his father’s factory in Nancy. He initially created clear glass objects but later began to experiment with layering deeply colored glass.
While glassmakers on Murano had applied layers of glass and color on decorative objects before Gallé had, he was ever-venturesome in his northeastern France, taking advantage of defects that materialized during his processes and etching in natural forms like insects such as dragonflies, marine life, the sun, vines, fruits and flowers modeled from local specimens.
Gallé is also credited with reviving cameo glass, a glassware style that originated in Rome. He used cabochons, which were applied raised-glass decorations colored with metallic oxides and made to resemble rich jeweling. Gallé's cameo glass vases and vessels were widely popular at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, cementing his position as a talented designer and pioneer.
During the late 19th century, Gallé led breakthroughs in mass production and employed hundreds of artisans in his workshop.
Botany and nature remained great sources of inspiration for the artist's glassmaking — just as they had for other Art Nouveau designers. From approximately 1890 to 1910, the movement’s talented designers produced furniture, glass and architecture in the form of — or adorned with — gently intertwining trees, flowers and vines. But Gallé had many interests, such as Eastern art and ceramics. The Japanese collection he visited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (then the South Kensington Museum) during the 1870s had made an impression too.
Breaking free from the rigid Victorian traditions, Gallé infused new life and spirit into the art and design of his time through exquisitely crafted glass vessels and pioneering new glassworking techniques.
Find a collection of Émile Gallé vases and other furniture and decorative objects on 1stDibs.
Original French Art Nouveau game table / side table by Emile Gallé 1905 chestnut
By Gallé, Émile Gallé
Located in Ijzendijke, NL
Exquisite & most rare! This marvelous games table by Emile Galle. The top is richly decorated with a masterfully inlay of various woods. Depicting multiple chestnut leaves in differe...
Wood, Walnut
French Art Nouveau Game Table by Emile Galle
By Émile Gallé
Located in Bridgewater, CT
French Art Nouveau game table by Emile Galle.
Wood
$5,800
H 30.7 in Dm 31.5 in
20th Century Art Nouveau Gaming Table/ Coffee Table, Brass Base, AT circa 1910
Located in Lichtenberg, AT
Outstanding early 20th century Art Nouveau mahogany gaming table/ coffee table out of Vienna/ Austria from the period around 1910. The round tabletop, covered by a protecting glass p...
Brass
$55,565 / set
H 28.35 in W 22.84 in D 14.57 in
Amazing set of Art Nouveau Nesting Tables by Emile Galle ''Thistle'' 1905 Walnut
By Émile Gallé
Located in Ijzendijke, NL
A set of four French Art Nouveau nesting tables by Emile Gallé decorated with fruitwood marquetry in a motif of carlile thistle and butterflies. Each table represents a different sta...
Wood, Walnut
Art Nouveau Gaming Table, ca. 1910
Located in Nagykovácsi, Central Hungary
Art Nouveau game table possibly from Vienna, dating from the 1910s. The table has 4 small drawers. The pine table to has a walnut veneer, the lower part has a copper cover.
Copper
$4,550
H 27.56 in W 22.84 in D 14.97 in
Émile Gallé Art Nouveau Set of Four Marquetry Nesting Tables, France, c. 1900
By Émile Gallé
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, AR
A rare and beautifully preserved set of four Art Nouveau nesting tables, attributed to the workshop of Émile Gallé, Nancy, France, circa 1900. The largest tabletop bears a marquetry-...
Wood
Fine French Art Deco Palisander Game Table by Jules Leleu
By Jules Leleu
Located in Long Island City, NY
With a removable and reversible top, one side featuring a marquetry chess / checker board, and the other covered in felt (felt to be replaced), two drawers, and fine bronze details. ...
Bronze
Art Nouveau Side Table by Emille Gallé
By Émile Gallé
Located in Hronská Breznica, Banskobystrický kraj
Art nouveau side table by Emille Gallé with water lily and dragonfly inlay. Professionally stained and repolished.
Wood
$8,000
H 29.73 in W 26.97 in D 19.49 in
Original French Art Nouveau Marquetry Table ''Japonisme'' by Emile Galle 1900
By Émile Gallé
Located in Ijzendijke, NL
Very rare original Emile Galle ''plate 66 Japonisme'' side table in Art Nouveau style. This beautiful side table was created by Emile Galle in 1900, during the art nouveau period. It features exquisite marquetry woodwork that is inspired by the Japonisme movement, which was influenced by Japanese art and design. The side table is decorated with breathtaking Magnolia flowers & a romantic couple of butterflies. Made from various types of wood, creating a unique scenery almost like a painting. The table showcases intricate details, such as delicate foliage and organic forms, that are hallmarks of art nouveau style. Galle was renowned for his innovative techniques and attention to detail, and this piece is a testament to his mastery of the craft. It is a stunning example of the art nouveau movement and a true work of art. Literature: ''Galle furniture by Alastair Duncan and Georges de Bartha 2012 Page 153. Plate 66. This Emile Galle table...
Walnut, Fruitwood, Rosewood
$15,684Sale Price|20% Off
H 44.89 in W 15.75 in D 15.75 in
Original Art Nouveau Pedestal by Emile Galle 1890 French Antique Inlaid Table
By Émile Gallé
Located in Ijzendijke, NL
Breathtaking & Most rare! This French Art Nouveau Pedestal by famous designer Emile Galle with early signature circa 1890. Exquisite ...
Wood, Fruitwood, Rosewood
$2,227Sale Price|20% Off
H 27.96 in W 20.87 in D 19.69 in
Art Nouveau Side Table by Émile Gallé, Marquetry Wood, France, 1900
By Émile Gallé
Located in Bruxelles, BE
Elegant Art Nouveau tripod side table signed Gallé, featuring a distinctive shield-shaped top. The tabletop is richly decorated with fine marquetry depicting a thistle branch, an em...
Wood
French Art Deco Pascaud Light Mahogany Game Table
By Jean Pascaud
Located in Queens, NY
French Art Deco light mahogany square game table with a removable parquetry top & ebonized banded inlay trim over a concave apron with bronze trim & sabot. (JEAN PASCAUD) (Related it...
Bronze
Fine French Art Deco Game / Occasional Table by Rinck
By Maurice Rinck
Located in Long Island City, NY
Rinck - established in 1841 and directed by Maurice Rinck in the Art Deco / mid-century period. A fine game / tea table in elm with a reversible top (wood on one side and felt on the other) with four tapered legs and chrome cup...
Chrome
$4,500
H 29.53 in W 27.56 in D 27.56 in
Art Deco Game Table by Gauthier-Poinsignon, Rosewood, France, 1930
By Atelier Gauthier Poinsignon
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Elegant Art Deco game table designed by Gauthier-Poinsignon, France, circa 1930. Crafted in beautifully grained wood, the table features refined proportions and the clean, architect...
Rosewood
Émile Gallé Art Nouveau Folding Games Table, circa 1902–1904
By Émile Gallé
Located in New York, NY
Émile Gallé (French, 1846–1904) Folding Games Table (Table à Jeux) Circa 1902–1904 An exceptional Art Nouveau folding games table by Émile Gallé, masterfully crafted in molded cedar...
Wood
French Art Nouveau Games Table by, Emile Gallé
By Émile Gallé
Located in Englewood, NJ
A French Art Nouveau carved wood and marquetry games table by, Emile Gallé decorated with various fruitwood and marquetry flora, hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds and when opened r...
Bronze