In Art signed Gallé, Tiny Esveld, in collaboration with Clémentine L. Diepen, casts new light on the work of the renowned French designer Emile Gallé (1846-1904). Esveld raises a number of points which many authors prefer to pass over, such as the important role that Gallé’s father played in the production of his ceramics and the involvement of Emile’s wife Henriëtte and their daughters after Gallé’s death in 1904.
Almost 90% of glass signed Gallé which comes on the market today dates from the period after his early death.
Gallé’s oeuvre of ceramics, glass and luxury furniture, which was often inspired by nature, is examined and explained by means of concise texts, informative descriptions and hundreds of photographs. Esveld also draws on her expertise to illuminate Gallé’s often innovative techniques and production methods.
With Art signed Gallé, Tiny Esveld has added to the scope of the literature about Emile Gallé from her own perspective. In its 300 pages, she transports the reader back to the era and the city in which Gallé lived and worked. This is a coffee table book, a popular work of reference and a practical guide in one.
As Edwin Becker, who curated the 2004 Siegfried Bing exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum says: “In short, this is a book which no enthusiast of Gallé’s exceptional artistry can afford to miss.”
A limited number (500 copies) of Art signed Gallé are also available in a Dutch edition.
Tiny Esveld is an expert in antique glass and the owner of the gallery in Brasschaat (near Antwerp) which bears her name. The gallery specialises in French Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass and furniture from around 1900, with the accent on Gallé. Her previous book Glass made transparent (2010), is an instructive and practical handbook for lovers and collectors of the glass of Gallé, Daum and Schneider.
If you want an appraisal of a vase you own or of a vase you intend to buy, Tiny Esveld does appraisals. Read more about appraisals. You can visit Ms Esveld’s website www.tinyesveld.com to see a part of the present collection for sale at the moment.
This voluminous book is a feast to read. In the preface, Tiny Esveld explains why she was prompted to write this book on Emile Gallé, his father Charles and the family, and his wife and daughters, who continued the family business successfully for thirty years after the death of the master. A distinction is made in the book between Gallé’s works as rare objects and mass-produced pieces.
The introduction is written by Edwin Becker, Head Curator of Exhibitions at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, who became fascinated by Gallé as a visionary entrepreneur after carrying out research preparatory to staging the ambitious exhibition L’Art Nouveau: la maison Bling. According to Becker, it is good that there are galleries like that of Tiny Esveld, offering the possibility to examine works and determine their authenticity. Such galleries, alongside the carefully selected collections in museums, offer invaluable scope for the acquisition of knowledge in the field of arts and crafts.
The book starts with a comprehensive and fascinating history of Gallé’s home town, Nancy, accompanied by historical postcards and photos, followed by chapters headed “Ceramics”, “Glass”, “Furniture” and “The Collector”. The concluding chapters, headed “Counterfeits” and “Tourist Information”, bring this excellent volume to a close.
It features not only great photos of Gallé’s works but also a series of pictures and drawings, as well as images of graphic material, explaining and illustrating various pieces. providing a time-line showing the progression from his very early works to his last and the items produced after his death, when his wife Henriëtte Grimm took over.
Especially on account of its very extensive chapter on glass, I warmly recommend this book to collectors and to all who are interested in this artist of genius, whose extremely interesting life and works are placed in their true historical context.
Angela van der Burght
