Three-tiered Table Inspired by Émile Gallé’s “Fleur de l’Eau” Design

This exquisite three-tiered table by Émile Gallé presents a stunning vignette of water flowers, each tier depicting a different flower. The top tier features intricate marquetry depicting a landscape of nenuphars (European white water lilies) surrounding a tiny islet of cypresses. This motif, evocative of Arnold Böcklin’s Isle of the Dead, was popularized at the turn of the century, inspired by the artist’s dream of an island where one journeys after death. The second tier, shaped like a cherry blossom, offers a planar (top-down) view of a tranquil marsh scene, with dragonflies hovering over lily pads and a delicate Japanese Iris ensata. The bottom tier showcases a cartouche framing a rare Iris setosa alba, inspired by a botanical study by Galle currently housed in the Musée d’Orsay. The table is exemplary of Gallé’s appreciation of Japanese design because of the very close studies of nature, the use of asymmetry, and the flattening of perspective with the use of different woods.