MULLER FRÈRES; France, ca. 1910.
Art Nouveau vase.
Acid-etched cameo glass.
Signed "Muller Frères Luneville".
Procedure: Private Collection, Spain between 1970-1990.
Measurements: 11 x 10 x 6.5 cm.
Acid-etched glass vase, composed of two layers of glass, the lower one of an amber tone and the upper one dark brown, almost black in the areas where it retains its full thickness, and almost orange, more translucent, where it has been thinned more. The acid-etched motif depicted is a lake landscape on two planes, which are clearly separated by the lake that runs between them. The difference in thickness (and therefore in tone) has been used to reflect the depth of the space in a naturalistic way.
The Muller brothers began working for Gallé, and later established their own glassworks in Luneville. Years later, production moved to Croismare, and the pieces were signed "Muller Croismare". The firm produced mottled glass and acid-etched cameo glass, mainly between 1905 and 1937.
Cameo glass has been known since ancient times, although it was revived at the end of the 19th century in France and England. Gallé presented his acid-etched cameo technique at the Paris Exhibition of 1889, with the aim of bringing modernist glass to the public. It was a quicker and cheaper form of decoration than the wheel-engraved cameo, resulting in more affordable, mass-produced but handmade pieces, as no stencils were used and the motif was hand-drawn on each piece. The cameo glass technique consists of blowing a bubble of two or more layers of glass of different colours, which are then cut or removed by acid etching the bottom, thus leaving the motif in relief, in the colour of the top layer of glass.