Amalric Walter

AMALRIC WALTER (Sèvres, 1870 - Lury-sur-Arnon, 1959); HENRI BERGÉ (Diarville, 1870 - Nancy, 1937).
Mortar model "Chestnut trees of India".
Turquoise blue glass paste embellished with yellow foliage and brown shells.
Measurements: 12.5 x 17.5 cm.

Amalric Walter was a French ceramist and glassmaker who became known primarily for his "Pâte de verre" glass art. This is the result of a glass created by a technique in which ground glass is made into paste and modeled as a vase or figure, then tracing the design by carving. The glass created by this method was known in ancient times and revived in France in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Henri Bergé was a decorator and illustrator of Art Nouveau and the French École de Nancy. He was a student of Jules Larcher at the École des Beaux-Arts de Nancy and completed his training at the Compagnie française du cristal Daum. In that company he made an impact as a decorator in glass and stained glass by introducing a new style and concept in floral, pastoral and other motifs inspired by nature. He is the author, among others, of the stained glass windows of the Cure d'air Trianon de Malzéville. As an illustrator, he produced various works such as posters, advertising posters, such as those of the Maison d'art de Lorraine.
The Daum manufacture was founded at the end of the 19th century by Augustin Daum (1853-1909), from a small family glassworks in Nancy. He was joined by his brother Antonin (1864-1931), and the Daum workshops soon became a meeting and training place for many young artists, who promoted the Art Nouveau style in Nancy. During World War I the factory closed, but resumed production after the war, adapting to the change of aesthetics and leaving behind the modernism of his first period.