POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

French Art Nouveau vase by Legras and Cie

Object No. A8000

This small glass vase was made by Legras & Cie in St Denis, then a township, but now a suburb of Paris, in France. It was part of the factory’s ‘Indiana’ series of variously shaped acid-etched and enamelled glass vases in the Art Nouveau style, decorated with large bright-red poppy flowers rendered in the cameo technique and highlighted with richly gilt detail. Possibly designed by Auguste Jean-Francois Legras and issued in the early 1900s, it is an example of the company’s diverse range of floral designs inspired by Japanese art. Legras & Cie (Verreries Saint-Denis) was established by Auguste Jean-Francois Legras in about 1864. By the end of the century it had specialised in acid-etched cameo glass inspired by Emile Galle, France's leading maker of decorative glass in the fashionable Art Nouveau style. During the first decade of the 1900s Legras & Cie became a major exponent of the Ecole de Nancy (School of Nancy) led by Galle. The firm produced a wide variety of commercial art-glass, both cameo and painted in enamels, but also made some large high-quality pieces for international exhibitions. Legras & Cie was the largest glass manufacturer in France by 1900, employing over 1500 people. It continued production until about 1914 and after the Second World War merged with Pantin glassworks to form Verreries et Cristalleries de St Denis et Pantin Reunies. Jack Stahel, Curatorial Assistant, and Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator, 2020