Dallas Auction Gallery (Invaluable), The 20th & 21st Century Design Sale, Lot 4, Dallas, August 13, 2024.
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Night service or water set in smoky brown glass with green tones, featuring rich, polychrome enameled decoration of Japonisme inspiration. The set consists of a four-legged tray intended to hold five pieces: two long-necked vases, perhaps flasks whose stoppers are now missing, a candy dish with its lid, and a large glass.
All the pieces feature rich, polychrome enameled decoration of Far Eastern inspiration, composed of leafy, flowering branches, ribbons, and numerous cartouches of varied shapes. These house butterflies, floral, and geometric motifs, evoking in particular the patterns of traditional Japanese textiles.
The hot-applied pink glass decoration also contributes to the originality of the set. The tray is animated by a wavy rim and four organic-shaped feet. Each of the pieces arranged on it rests on a tripod base and displays, on its body, small droplets of glass that appear to flow from the rim down to the belly, accentuating the lush and dynamic aspect of the composition.
No other night service or water set attributed to Auguste Jean is currently known. Due to its exceptional nature and its remarkable state of preservation, this set thus constitutes a particularly rare testament to the artist's production.
