LEGRAS (1839-1916) MONTJOYE - Vase - “Jersey” jardinière vase with enamel decoration featuring a lovely spray of wild violets and - Blown glass

Circa 1890 – Cristallerie Legras & Cie, Montjoye à Saint-Denis, France

Splendid rare jardinière vase “Jersey” signed MONTJOYE, made in blown glass with an opacified base in a wonderful emerald green hue with bright spring reflections, enhanced by a sumptuous spray of ravishing wild violets, delicately hot-enamelled in subtle nuances of mauve, lilac and deep violet, accompanied by magnificent foliage highlighted with gold.

Of a very elegant oblong shape with harmoniously curved lines, this magnificent jardinière vase immediately captivates with the freshness of its greenish hues, the softness of its delicately frosted and granulated surface, and the extraordinary finesse of its ornamentation, a true homage to the beauty and poetry of nature.

On this luminous pale green background unfolds a marvelous spray of wild violets, delicately painted and hot-enamelled by hand, in charming shades of mauve, lilac, deep violet and pearly white.

These small marvels of delicacy, shown at different stages of bloom, sometimes fully opened, sometimes gracefully inclined or still in bud, reveal sumptuous petals with velvety nuances, illuminated by little golden-yellow and orange hearts.

This enchanting composition, particularly delicate and poetic, unfolds harmoniously on all faces of the vase, accompanied by fine sinuous stems highlighted with gold and superb fully gilded foliage, whose finely worked outlines lend the whole a remarkable ornamental richness.

The upper part is heightened by a sumptuous oblong neck, broadly open, delicately worked hot, outlined with generous gilding and bordered by a magnificent frieze of stylised arabesques with elegant gold draping, harmoniously following the entire circumference of the vase.

This remarkable gilded ornamentation, of exquisite execution, wonderfully contrasts with the freshness of the emerald green glass and the soft violet tints of the violets, giving this creation a special elegance and refinement.

Remarkable artisanal work of high quality, both in the execution of the sumptuous gildings and in the delicacy of the violet enamelling in relief, with subtle colour nuances, bearing witness to the exceptional know-how of the decorators of the Legras / Montjoye crystal works at the end of the 19th century.

This magnificent rare piece, a “jersey” form, also appeals with its handsome generous proportions, offering a remarkable volume for glassware of that era.

With its 18 cm length, 8.8 cm height, and an impressive circumference of 44.5 cm, it presents an elegant elongated silhouette, harmoniously curved, which admirably showcases the richness of its violet decoration and the brilliance of its sumptuous gildings.

Signature: Beneath the base remain the very faded traces of an old seal, still revealing the famous Montjoye mark with the figure, emblematic of the Legras crystal works in Saint-Denis at the end of the 19th century.

A magnificent and delicate collectible piece, a true little masterpiece of spring poetry, where the freshness of wild violets, the luminosity of emerald green glass, and the sumptuous flashes of gold unite in a composition of rare elegance.

In very good condition for its great age, with some signs of wear typical of use, especially under the base, quite normal and coherent with the passage of time and fully consistent with the antiquity of this work created around 1890.

Also note a discreet small air bubble under the base, a small original manufacturing flaw. These discreet peculiarities do not detract from the charm and beauty of this ravishing glass collection piece, in which the Legras / MONTJOYE ateliers seem to have imprisoned in the glass the light and the fragile beauty of gorgeous wild violets in bloom.

Very beautiful period Art Nouveau piece from the Nancy school. Daum Nancy, Gallé, Le verre Français, Schneider, Lalique...

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