VASE

Between 1877 and 1884

Blown and hot-worked glass, polychrome enameled decoration, gilded highlights

H. 24 cm

Private collection

© Sotheby's

_

Sotheby's, 20th Century Decorative Arts, Lot 13, Paris, May 24, 2007.

_

Globular tripod vase in translucent amethyst-pink blown glass. Several elements are hot-worked: the base, the neck stretched with pliers, and the small undulations that animate the lower part of the body.

The vase is adorned with a polychrome enameled decoration of Japanese inspiration, consisting of two impressive carp swimming among aquatic plants and flowers. Leaping out of the water, their momentum is suggested by the hot-worked undulations on the lower part of the body, creating small glass ripples. The decoration subtly plays on the alternation of solid and void and on delicate reserved areas, particularly in the treatment of the fins, playing with the transparency of the glass.

The gilded highlights and metallic effects of the glass enrich the composition and fully contribute to its aquatic evocation. The metallic reflections of the material, particularly noticeable in the transparency of the amethyst-pink glass, can thus evoke the shimmering of light on the surface of glistening water. The hot-working, in turn, brings an organic and moving dimension to the whole: material, form, and decoration combine to suggest the movement of water and the leaping of fish.

Several vases by Auguste Jean adopt this same form, but each is distinguished by the color of the glass and the composition of its polychrome enameled decoration.