Chest of Drawers by Émile Gallé: “Chardons des Sables”

This “Chardons des Sables,” or “Sand Thistle,” multi-wood chest of drawers, by Émile Gallé, is a moving meditation on the artist’s own mortality. The blackened sand thistle flowers, figured on the marquetry front and top of the piece, seemingly blow in an ocean breeze, while a seamless transition occurs between the sky and the undulating ripples of the sea. Gallé has taken advantage of the natural striations in various types wood to enhance this effect—including fruitwood, Bubinga, red coconut palm, and sugar maple—as well as the coloration of the natural veneer, through which the storied rays of the hardwoods to serve as a secondary pattern to the dominant dark veining. The walnut carcass of the piece stands on four short legs with five long, lockable drawers, with designs of umbelliferae, sand thistles, and sea flora and fauna, such as brittle stars and bladderwrack sea weed. At the point in which the marine becomes flora, and flora becomes marine, the conceptual unity of this exceptional piece reaches its culmination.