I just bought a great collection of French cameo glass

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Philip Chasen

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

Last Thursday I flew out of town to purchase a collection of French cameo glass that I helped assemble in the 1980s and 1990s. There were some really great items, so I was very pleased to repurchase them.

Rare and beautiful Daum vase with applied snails and grapes

It’s hard to put them in order of importance, but I’ll try. First would have to be a 10¼” Daum vase with two applied snails and eight applied grapes. What can I say about this vase except that it’s really great and important!

Rare Daum Nancy Weeping Willow vase

Second place is probably a multiple tie, but I sure like a Daum scenic vase with willow trees, a canoe and a mallard. It’s not only extremely rare, but gorgeous too, with incredible color and detail. I’ve only seen the tri-lobed shape a few times ever, making it equally rare to the decoration. Nice size at 5½” tall x 5″ diameter.

Rare Daum Wheat vase

Wheat is one of Daum’s rarest and most desirable decorations. What’s especially nice and unusual is that the wheat sheaves were gilded first and then the detail was hand-painted on top — a real rarity. Most of the time gilding was used for fine detail, as well as decoration on the bases and rims of vases. This 11″ vase also has highly intricate gilded decoration on the foot.

There’s more, including a Daum Farm vase, a monumental Daum vase with wild orchids and four bees, a super rare early Gallé Crystallerie box with original sterling silver fitted tray, etc. By the time you read this, some of the vases may already be sold, so they won’t even make it to my website, but others will, so please take a look.

baltimore-8-2015 The Baltimore Summer Antiques Show is just around the corner. It opens to the public on Thursday, August 20th, at noon and continues until Sunday, August 23 at 6 PM. If you haven’t made plans yet, there’s still time. I just checked hotwire.com and unbelievably there are 4½-star rooms in the Inner Harbor available for $85/night. Wow! The show is the best summer antique show in the entire United States, so it’s worth a trip from anywhere. Hope to see you there!

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

A primer on Gallé blownout vases

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Philip Chasen

Gorgeous Gallé Water Lily blownout vase

It is believed that the firm of Emile Gallé did not start to produce blownout vases until after WWI, which was also after Gallé’s death in 1904. If that’s true, then Gallé himself never saw some of the most interesting and valuable vases the firm produced. These vases are referred to as blownout, or mold-blown, or soufflé. The terms are interchangeable.

Monumental Gallé Calla Lily blownout vase

The technique in producing these vases was similar to standard acid-etched vases, but with one major difference — first the glass was blown into a mold using compressed air. Then the design was cut into the vase using hydrofluoric acid. My rough estimation is that there are approximately 50 different models of Gallé blownout vases.

Gallé purple Fuchsia blownout vase

Gallé pink Fuchsia blownout vase

The same model may vary in color, but not in size or shape, since the molds were defined. This is very similar to R. Lalique vases, which were also produced in molds.

Gallé white and standard Elephant vases

To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever built a collection of every known example of Gallé blownout vases. That would be a very interesting (and expensive) collection. Today’s prices range from under $10,000 to over $200,000. The most valuable would be a white elephant.

Reproduction Gallé Elephant vase

Comical reproductions exist, but are easily identifiable after learning the real examples.

What’s new at Philip Chasen Antiques?

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Philip Chasen

Business has been good, so I’ve been buying up a storm (and selling quite a bit too). Most of my energy has been in French glass, but I’ve bought some wonderful items in other categories, including Tiffany glass and lamps, Loetz glass, Amphora pottery and much more. This entire last last week has been an exercise in continuous cleaning, labeling, and packing for our show next week in Denver. If there’s any chance you can make it, please try. Our display will be second to none. Here are a few examples of this exciting new merchandise.

Tiffany Studios 22-inch diameter Nasturtium table lamp

How about a superb and huge Tiffany Studios 22″ diameter Nasturtium table lamp on an adjustable Cat’s Paw base? I haven’t had a Tiffany lamp this large and this fine in quite a while. It’s priced right, so it’s not going to last long.

Daum 17¼-inch blownout scenic vase

Daum produced only a few different models of blownout vases, with the 11″ forest scenic the most common (and the most beautiful). What they made very few of is the large, 17¼” tall version. (This is only the second time I’ve owned this vase.) Besides rarity, it’s more impressive, with extensive wheel-carving between the trees and to the foot. It’s a stunning vase.

Daum inkwell with 4 applied insects

I love this Daum Nancy inkwell from the 1920s, which includes techniques developed earlier in the century. The 1920s characteristics are the bright colors and the foil inclusions. The technique is called paperweight, where the outer layer is clear glass. The foil and the colored glass are internal. The earlier influences are the applied and wheel-carved insects, four in all, each a different color. When molten, clear glass was applied over colored foil, giving each insect a different color — blue, purple, red or yellow. When the glass was cold, a craftsman engraver carved all of the details for each insect, including the legs into the body of the inkwell, making them very realistic and very cool.

These are only a small sample of the new items. Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around.

Keep checking my site, as I will be updating it often. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

French cameo and Loetz glass sell well at Bonhams New York 20th Century Decorative Arts sale, June 11, 2015

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Philip Chasen

Bonhams New York held a 20th Century Decorative Arts sale on June 11, 2015. Included were a few nice examples of French cameo and Loetz glass. As a group, they performed very well.

Fine Daum Nancy Cyclamen vase, Bonhams lot #27

Lot #27 was a lovely 12″ Daum Nancy vase with cyclamen flowers and gilding. It almost doubled its high estimate of $5,000 to realize $11,875.

Fantastic Loetz vase, Bonhams lot #29

A really great Loetz vase was sold as lot #29. It brought $43,750 — almost double its high estimate of $18,000. The vase was big, fabulous and rare, so there was no question it was going to do well.

Reproduction “Galle” lamp, Bonham’s lot #23

Unfortunately, Bonham’s also sold lot #23 as an authentic Gallé lamp. In my opinion, there was no question the lamp was a reproduction. I told the expert in charge, who decided to disregard my counsel. The lamp did not sell.

All prices include the buyer’s premium.

For the complete results of the sale, click here.

No shows until July, when we’ll be in Denver for the Denver World Wide Antique Show, at the Denver Mart, EXPO Building, 451 East 58th Avenue, July 24-26, 2015. We’re still in business, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. Keep checking my website for the latest offerings, which I’ll be posting in the next week.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

The market in French glass is excellent. Thank you for asking.

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Philip Chasen

We sold this important Argy-Rousseau pâte-de-verre vase in Miami

I’ve been dealing in French cameo glass for over 40 years, so I have a pretty good handle on what’s going on. My conclusion is that the market is alive and well. The anecdotal evidence is all around. Let’s start with the first big show of the year, the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show. Here’s a quote from my blog of February 4, 2015. “French cameo glass continued on fiyah! (that’s fire for those who need translation). I cannot think of another show, ever, where more cameo glass was sold, not just by me, but by all the dealers.”

This important Gallé marquetry vase, Sur Socle Grand Iris, sold at Sotheby’s in Paris for $476,325

Auction after auction has resulted in strong sales for good examples of French glass. Just last week a fine Gallé artistic vase sold for almost half a million dollars at Sotheby’s in Paris.

I sold this killer Daum Nancy farm scenic vase recently

Personally, business has been wonderful. In fact, it hasn’t been this good since the late 1980s, when Japanese buyers dominated the market. Markets go up and they go down, so it’s refreshing to see the resilience of the French glass market.

No shows until July, when we’ll be in Denver for the Denver World Wide Antique Show, at the Denver Mart, EXPO Building, 451 East 58th Avenue, July 24-26, 2015. I’ll always be in touch, even while we’re in Europe, so please don’t hesitate to email or call.

Artistic Gallé vase sells for $476,325 at Sotheby’s Paris, May 21, 2015

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Philip Chasen

Sotheby’s Paris held their Design 20e Siècle (20th Century Design) sale on May 21, 2015, with some dramatic results. Sales totaled €7,093,775 ($7,776,768) for the 163 lots offered, with a sell-through rate of 90%.

Important Gallé marquetry vase,Sur Socle Grand Iris, Sotheby’s lot #8

Original Gallé invoice

The sale started with a private French collection of important Gallé vases. Lot #8, an outstanding 12½” marquetry vase entitled Sur Socle Grand Iris (Large Iris on Stand) led the group. It sold for €435,000 ($476,325), against a pre-sale estimate of €200,000 — €300,000. It came with an original 1904 invoice mentioning the vase. How cool is that!

Gallé undersea vase, Sotheby’s lot #5

Coming in second in the Gallé group was another important vase, lot #5, 5″ tall, with molded and applied undersea decoration. It easily exceeded its high estimate of €30,000 to reach €60,000 ($65,700).

For the complete results of the sale, click here.

The results of the Louis Daniel Brodsky Collection of Art Nouveau at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, February 22, 2015

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Philip Chasen

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers held their Louis Daniel Brodsky Collection of Art Nouveau sale on February 22, 2015, selling the estate of the late poet. Results were good, with sales totaling $1,049,319, against pre-sale estimates of $437,570 – $693,430. All 347 lots sold, for a 100% sell-through rate. Phone and online bidders from 15 countries vied with the audience in the full saleroom.

Emile Gallé marquetry cabinet, Hindman lot #42

Two furniture lots tied at $35,000 for top lot of the sale — #20, a French Art Nouveau rosewood vitrine, against a pre-sale estimate of $8,000 – $12,000 and #42, an Émile Gallé marquetry cabinet, against a pre-sale estimate of $5,000 – $7,000.

Early Gallé Crystallerie vase, Hindman lot #2

Brodsky favored early Gallé glass — clear Crystallerie with hand-painted motifs. Top lot of this group was #2, an interesting rectangular vase with flowers and two praying mantises. It sold for $10,625 — double the high estimate of $5,000.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, poster, Divan Japonais, Hindman lot #99

Of the posters that Brodsky collected, lot 99, a Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec example, entitled Divan Japonais, 1892-93, sold for $30,000, against a pre-sale estimate of $10,000 – $20,000.

For the complete results of the sale, click here.

Now for a little down time and a lovely vacation. We’ll be back in time for our next show, the NYC Pier Antique Show, March 28-29, 2015.

French glass sells well at Doyle New York’s Belle Epoque sale, February 18, 2015

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Philip Chasen

Doyle New York held its Belle Epoque sale on February 18, 2015. Included in the sale were two interesting collections of French glass — Schneider glass from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and Gallé glass from the estate of Erica Lemle Amsterdam. Both groups of glass sold well.

A Schneider applied floral vase, Doyle lot #302

Top lot of the museum’s Schneider glass collection was #302, an important applied floral vase. Estimated very conservatively at $1,000 – $1,500, it soared to $5,938, including buyer’s premium.

Gallé Crystallerie decanter, Doyle lot #333

An early Gallé Crystallerie decanter depicting a Renaissance Queen was the best performing lot of the Erica Lemle Amsterdam estate collection. It realized $12,500, five times its pre-sale high estimate of $2,500.

For the complete results of the sale, click here. Then choose Belle Epoque from the drop-down list and click “View”.

Now we’ll slow down until our next show, the NYC Pier Antique Show, March 28-29, 2015. In the meantime, I can see a nice vacation in our near future. 🙂

What’s new at Chasen Antiques? Part III

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Philip Chasen

This outstanding 18″ tall Gallé is fresh from a Florida collection

I’ve always been an active buyer and seller of French cameo glass. Recently I bought a collection in Florida, as well as many items in various locations. I’ve now got four Gallé lamps for sale. Usually I don’t even have one.

Galle Fuchsia vase, just in

Gallé blownout vases are highly collectible and desirable. The Fuchsia example above is one of four different, beautiful blownout models I have for sale.

Gorgeous Burgun & Schverer Bleeding hearts vase

Do you have any idea how much work went into the making of a single Burgun & Schverer internally decorated vase? I’ll tell you. First the gaffer (glass blower) blew the undecorated vase. When cold (24-48 hours later), the vase went to a decorator who hand-painted the flowers, branches and leaves with glass enamel paint. Then into the kiln to melt and fuse the design to the vase. At that point, the decoration was on the outside of the vase. It then went back to the gaffer to be reheated and covered with a layer of clear glass. The technique is called paperweight (because the decoration becomes internal). It was difficult, as well as time and labor-intensive. Many of the vases cracked during cooling. If it survived, 24-48 hours later, the cold vase was sent to a decorator who covered the vase with a waxy resist, hand-carved the leaf, branch and top rim icicles and then sent it for a hydrofluoric acid bath to etch the design. After washing and drying, the vase was heated to melt off the remainder of the waxy resist. Then off to an engraver who hand-carved the details in the flowers and leaves and the martelé flourishes in the background. Not finished yet. Then back to another decorator who hand-painted the gilded details in the veins of the flowers and the top rim. At this point the gold was black, so off to the kiln for still another firing. After cooling, (24-48 hours), out came a piece of art, with internal flowers, incredible workmanship, and shiny gold details, ready for sale. How long would you guess that took, by how many artisans? My best guess is two weeks of work and up to ten very talented glass artisans. I hope next time you look at an internally decorated B&S vase, you’ll have a different appreciation. The example pictured above was recently purchased. It’s gorgeous, with outstanding work and a rare, beautiful rose-red background.

Striking Daum Nancy Marine pillow vase

Lastly I’d like to mention that I’ve been able to acquire several outstanding Daum vases, including the marine scenic example pictured above. Please take the time to look over the various offerings I’ve listed on my website. I tried to picture most of the examples I have for sale, but they’re not all there. Time doesn’t permit me to picture everything. Either you can ask me for something specific or best of all, come to see me at one of my shows in Florida. You won’t be disappointed!

I can’t believe it. By the middle of next week, we’ll be in Miami setting up the Miami National Antiques Show (the Airport show) and by Saturday we’ll be open to the public for business. If you plan on going to the big Miami Beach show the following week, you should consider coming a few days early to visit this one. You’ll get first crack at some of the following week’s merchandise (and out of the cold!).

What’s new at Chasen Antiques?

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Philip Chasen

Our five-show-Southern-circuit is around the corner, with the first starting in Miami on January 24th. This is the time of year when I scour the earth to find treasures. I’ve been a busy boy. There’s always luck involved and this year it’s been good. A large proportion of my new items are from private estates. Following is a sampling. I suggest you check out my website where I’ve listed some of them, but there are many I haven’t yet listed. Call 516-922-2090, or send an email by clicking here, if you’re looking for something specific. (Remember to answer the simple anti-spam question at the bottom of the form or your email will not be sent.) Thursday’s post will be part II of What’s New at Chasen Antiques.

Rare Tiffany Favrile yellow vase

Tiffany Favrile glass is one area where I’ve purchased some very fine items, including a rare yellow vase, pictured above, a black millifiori vase, a turquoise decorated mini vase, a hearts & vines vase, a red-orange vase and several other outstanding examples.

Fine, rare Tiffany Favrile Artichoke pottery vase

I don’t get many Tiffany Favrile pottery vases because they’re even rarer than Tiffany Favrile glass. I just bought a wonderful, big (11″), artichoke example with a great glaze.

Natzler Tiger Eye Reduction Glaze vase

Another item I rarely get is Natzler pottery. If you don’t know, it’s mid-century and the best quality. This example has a great Tiger Eye Reduction glaze, with the original stickers, including the original price. A very cool item!

I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg. Look for more this Thursday. In the meantime, please check my website. I think you’ll like what you see.

I’ll be spending the next three weeks looking for still more treasures to bring to Florida for our southern circuit. Wish me luck!

Philip Chasen Antiques

The blog for chasenantiques.com

Tag Archives: Galle

I just bought a great collection of French cameo glass

A primer on Gallé blownout vases

What’s new at Philip Chasen Antiques?

French cameo and Loetz glass sell well at Bonhams New York 20th Century Decorative Arts sale, June 11, 2015

The market in French glass is excellent. Thank you for asking.

Artistic Gallé vase sells for $476,325 at Sotheby’s Paris, May 21, 2015

The results of the Louis Daniel Brodsky Collection of Art Nouveau at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, February 22, 2015

French glass sells well at Doyle New York’s Belle Epoque sale, February 18, 2015

What’s new at Chasen Antiques? Part III

What’s new at Chasen Antiques?