Art Nouveau vase; DAUM-NANCY, France, c. 1910.

Art Nouveau vase; DAUM-NANCY, France, c. 1910.
Cameo glass.
Signed.
Measurements: 23 x 12 cm.
This vase is a paradigmatic example of the technical and aesthetic refinement achieved by the Daum-Nancy manufacture during the height of French Art Nouveau. The vase, made of cameo glass, displays a complex superimposition of layers of colored glass, carefully acid-etched to reveal a naturalistic landscape of delicate luminosity. The scene, dominated by the silhouette of a tree rising against a background of violet and bluish tones, is integrated with a sky of golden and amber hues, evoking the changing effects of light at sunrise or sunset.
The cameo glass technique, perfected in Daum's workshops towards the end of the 19th century, consists of applying several layers of glass of different colors, subsequently cut or engraved to generate subtle reliefs and chromatic hallmarks of remarkable depth. This procedure, which requires precise control of temperature and great manual dexterity, allows surfaces where light filters in a graduated manner, giving the object an almost atmospheric pictorial quality.
The Art Nouveau style, characterized by the exaltation of nature and the search for harmony between form and decoration, finds a particularly successful expression in this work. The undulating lines of the trunk and foliage, as well as the chromatic transition between blue, green and gold, refer to the idea of a life cycle in perpetual transformation, a central motif in the symbolic aesthetics of the time.
The Daum manufacture, founded in Nancy in 1878 by Jean Daum and later directed by his sons Auguste and Antonin, established itself as one of the main centers of experimentation in the art of glass. His collaboration with artists and designers linked to the École de Nancy allowed him to develop his own language, in which technique was placed at the service of visual poetry. Each piece signed by Daum-Nancy is the result of meticulous craftsmanship, where blowing, modeling and engraving combine to produce objects of singular beauty and timeless modernity.