Black Men of Gallé, Who Are You ?

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The title of the vase is "les Hommes Noirs" (black men). Gallé had a symbolist mind, and we should not seek human forms on this vase. As against, the color is very dark, with floral items going up in glowing colors.

The subject is neither Africans nor the coal miners, so-called "black faces". The glass is bearing an inscription from a poem by Béranger: "Hommes Noirs, d'où sortez-vous ? Nous sortons de dessous terre" (Black Men, where are you coming from? We are emerging from below ground." Béranger, the most important French song writer of the nineteenth century, had been a social activist. As Gallé. And an artist who became famous without relying on high society. As Gallé. Black men are the shadows of the libel, on the occasion of the Exposition Universelle de Paris 1900, during which Gallé wants to loud his voice in favor of Dreyfus.

Review our strange vase. Baluster, with a very round body and a short cylindrical neck, it has not the familiar shape or happy colors of usual Gallé vases. It is also co-signed by Victor Prouvé. 39 cm high, in a sector where large size helps reaching high prices, it is estimated 60 K €, in the estate sale of Gallé's grandson, organized by Ader in Paris (Drouot) on March 20.

Really important Gallé vases fetch much higher prices. The verdict of the auction will establish what we really have to think about this one.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The result, 147 K € excluding fees, is close to that of large vases more typical of the shapes and subjects of Gallé. In the same price range, I indicated in one of my first articles in this group (in French only at that time) a chalice vase sold 182 K € inclusive by Millon at Drouot on 4 April 2008.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

AMENDING THE DESCRIPTION

I did not see human forms in his vase. In fact, its dark shades made it difficult to analyze through the photos. La Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot, more precisely, said in its issue of today that "the decor mixes snakes, dark human figures and a clawed monster."

I understand better the value and price of this vase when I know that the image is consistent with the text.