La Main aux algues et aux coquillages












Niveau médian

Doubtless the last work of crafted glass produced by the master from Nancy, this straight, upright hand represents the culmination of his technical mastery. Shaped under heat, the hand is decorated with polychromatic applications, some in high relief. It was exhibited Nancy in 1904 in a showcase entitled The Deep Sea.
The marine world provided Gallé with inspiration for many of his decorative motifs which, like the verses of Baudelaire, celebrated the symbolic role of the sea.
"Free man, you will always cherish the sea!
The sea is your mirror; you contemplate your soul [...]"
The shape of the hand evokes buddhist ritual, the votive offerings of antiquity and mediaeval reliquaries. It appears to confirm an oral family tradition by protesting against the sinking of Russian vessels in Port Arthur harbour during the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905).
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Object details
History - Provenance
- 1990, don (comité du 15/03/1990, conseil du 21/03/1990, arrêté du 10/04/1990)
- 1990, attribué au musée d'Orsay
Exhibition History
- Exposition d'art décoratif lorrain - galeries Poirel - France, Nancy, 1904
- Gallé - musée du Luxembourg - 1985 - 1986
- De Manet à Matisse, 7 ans d'enrichissement au musée d'Orsay - musée d'Orsay, Paris - France, Paris, 1990 - 1991
- 1900 - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 2000
- "La Main aux algues et aux coquillages". Le testament artistique d'Emile Gallé - musée d'Orsay, Paris - France, Paris, 2004
- Emile Gallé. Commémoration d'un centenaire - Edo-Tokyo Museum - Japon, Tokyo, 2005
- Emile Gallé. Commémoration d'un centenaire - National Museum of Art - Japon, Osaka, 2005
- Sade. Attaquer le soleil. - musée d'Orsay, Paris - France, Paris, 2014 - 2015
- Les origines du monde. L’invention de la nature au XIXe - musée d'Orsay, Paris - France, Paris, 2021
Bibliography
- Garner, Philip, Gallé, Paris, Flammarion, 1977, p.121
- Le Tacon, François, Emile Gallé ou le Mariage de l'Art et de la Science, Paris, Éd. Messene, 1995, p.136-142
- Thiébaut, Philippe, La Revue du Louvre et des musées de France, "Le Testament d'un verrier : la Main aux algues et aux coquillages (1904) d'Emile Gallé", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1996, n°3, p.71-80
- Thiébaut, Philippe, 48/14 La revue du Musée d'Orsay, ""La Main aux algues et aux coquillages" - Le testament artistique d'Emile Gallé", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2004, p. 20-21
- Thiébaut, Philippe, Gallé, le testament artistique, [Exposition, Paris, Musée d'Orsay, 15 juin-12 septembre 2004], Paris, Hazan ; Musée d'Orsay, 2004
- (dir.) Cogeval, Guy, Le Musée d'Orsay à 360 degrés, Paris, Skira ; Flammarion ; Musée d'Orsay, 2013, p. 293, texte de Philippe Thiébaut
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