FRANÇOIS-EUGÈNE ROUSSEAU (1827-1891) & ERNEST-BAPTISTE... Lot n° 402

Ovoid-shaped vase in bubbled, marbled and cracked glass mounted on a gilded bronze base. 19th century H. 17 cm Eugène Rousseau (1827-1891), a Parisian merchant and publisher, was specialized at the beginning of his career in earthenware and porcelain. Around 1867, at about the same time as Gallé, he developed a passion for the art of Japan and had earthenware services made by Montereau japonisants in association with an engraver, Félix Bracquemond. The same year, he started working with glassware. Working as a pioneer, Eugène Rousseau will go further than any other in the renewal of the art of glassmaking based on Far Eastern inspirations. He approaches the study of the colouring of glass and obtains unexpected decorations by superimposing variously shaded layers. Technique taken from the Venetians that the Chinese practiced in the 18th century. He adds cracks and ingenious combinations, taking advantage of the whims of fire and the deformations of the material to obtain a curious effect of colours. In 1885, he joined forces with his pupil Ernest Leveillé (1841-1913). From 1890 onwards, the models became more daring and tormented than those of Rousseau. The decorations, which borrowed from the curved line then in vogue, became more sinuous.