ACQUISITION - CONCHES MUSEUM

Floral vase

Between 1877 and 1884

Smoked, blown, enameled glass with gilded highlights

Signed with a hot-applied glass cabochon "A Jean"

H. 0.28; W. 0.26; D. 0.095

Acquired in 2024 with the help of Groupama

© François Décorchemont Glass Museum in Conches-en-Ouche (Inv. MV.2024.6.1)

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In 2024, the François Décorchemont Glass Museum in Conches-en-Ouche (Eure, Normandy) enriched its collections with the acquisition of a remarkable vase by Auguste JEAN, made possible through the impetus of its director, Éric Louet, and the support of Groupama.

Adorned with a polychrome enameled decoration of Japonisme inspiration, this vase is representative of the glass production Auguste JEAN developed in Paris between 1877 and 1884. Although signed with a glass cabochon, it also stands out for many characteristic features of his work: its flattened shape, the very organic modeling of its neck and its "tears" hot-shaped, the use of gilded highlights and metallized glass – a process he specialized in and for which he filed an invention patent –, as well as a rich floral decoration animated by insects, birds, and butterflies.

While this vase shape is already known through several cataloged examples, sometimes with variations, particularly in the treatment of the base, resting on a tripod or quadripod stand, the enameled decoration of this vase is, however, unique. Displayed on both sides of the work, it constitutes an important piece for the knowledge of Auguste JEAN's glass production.

This acquisition, which marks the entry of a new work by Auguste JEAN into French public collections, should be commended.