20th-Century Decorative Arts: From Gallé to Starck

Drawing on a long-standing tradition of expertise in this field, the house here highlights a pivotal moment in the history of the decorative arts, born at the end of the 19th century when European artists broke away from historicist styles to invent a resolutely modern visual language, inspired by the natural world.

This spirit of renewal is strikingly expressed through an exceptional group of Art Nouveau glassworks, bringing together nearly forty pieces by Émile Gallé and twenty-four works by the Daum brothers — a corpus of rare breadth. In these creations, nature becomes a true formal vocabulary, combining technical virtuosity with Symbolist poetry. Among them, an exceptional perfume bottle by Émile Gallé (lot 37, estimate: €30,000–40,000) stands out for the richness of its multi-layered glass decoration with high-relief motifs. Faithful to his interest in the vegetal world, the artist explores the motif of the rose — by turns a bud or a blooming flower — through a subtle interplay of layered colours, where shades of pink and green enhance both the aesthetic and symbolic dimensions of the object.

The sale continues with a selection of sculptures and decorative objects that reflect the transition towards Art Deco. A bronze by Roger Godchaux, Retour de chasse, depicting an elephant and its mahout (lot 89, estimate: €25,000–30,000), embodies this shift towards more structured forms while retaining a taste for exotic subjects. This same balance between ornament and function can be seen in the wrought-iron creations of Gilbert Poillerat, including an important circular chandelier from the 1940s (lot 143, estimate: €20,000–30,000), illustrating the mastery of line and material characteristic of the period.

The sale also places particular emphasis on furniture, from the refinement of Art Deco to the more pared-back lines of the second half of the century. Works by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann are presented alongside those of Pierre Chapo, whose pieces in solid elm — the “T20B” dining table (lot 205, estimate: €20,000–30,000), the “R16” sideboard (lot 206, estimate: €20,000–30,000), and a wall-mounted bookcase (lot 207, estimate: €15,000–20,000) — reflect an approach in which simplicity of form enhances the nobility of the material.

This diversity extends to more contemporary expressions, notably with two commodes by Piero Fornasetti, as well as works by designers such as Roger Capron, Gaetano Pesce, Shiro Kuramata and Philippe Starck, testifying to the vitality of 20th-century design. The decorative arts of the table are also well represented, with pieces by Sue et Mare and Puiforcat, continuing this dialogue between aesthetics and function.

Through this ensemble, the sale highlights the richness and diversity of 20th-century decorative arts, revealing the enduring dialogue between nature, technique and modernity.