Value and quotation of Émile Gallé's earthenware works

If you own an Emile Gallé earthenware piece, and would like to know its value, you can contact us free of charge using our online form. Our experts and auctioneers will get back to you within 24 hours with historical information on your piece and an estimate of its value. If you are planning to sell it, our specialists will also be able to advise you on the alternatives available to you to best sell your piece on the international market. 

Rating and value of the artist  

A major 19th-century earthenware maker, Émile Gallé has established himself as a sure value on the art market. Naturally, his works are appreciated and sought-after in auction rooms. A work signed by Gallé can fetch hundreds of thousands of euros at auction. In 2023, an Émile Gallé earthenware dish sold for €7,500 whereas its estimate was between €1,500 and €2,500.   

Order of value of a Gallé faience (from the most basic to the most exceptional) 

Émile Gallé, a multi-talented artist  

Émile Gallé was born in Nancy on May 4, 1846, the son of Charles Gallé and Fanny Reinemer, who sold crystal and porcelain. After secondary school in Nancy, he left in 1865 to study German and mineralogy in Weimar. He then trained in glassmaking at Meisenthal and in ceramics at the Faïencerie de Saint-Clément. Émile Gallé also took up glass-blowing and extended his artistic skills to include carpentry. His family's passion for the natural sciences, especially plants, led him to drawing. His passion for travel led him to various European capitals. In 1871, he settled in London, where he worked at the Kensington Museum and the Botanical Gardens. Émile Gallé joined the family earthenware and glass decoration business in 1867. He represented his father Charles Gallé at the World's Fair in London in 1871 and in Lyon in 1872. In 1877, he took over the family business and expanded into woodworking. He took part in numerous exhibitions, including the Universal Exhibitions of 1878, 1889 and 1893, where he won several prizes and medals. He was one of the most important figures in the applied arts of his time, and one of the precursors of Art Nouveau. At the same time, Émile Gallé pursued a career as a naturalist and scientist. In 1877, he founded the Société centrale d'horticulture de Nancy. Throughout his life, he pursued research into the polymorphism of plants and maintained scientific relations with the leading French and foreign biologists of the time.  

Émile Gallé, a career on all fronts 

At the start of his career, his artistic sources of inspiration were varied, but nature soon became the theme of choice for the decoration of his works, particularly earthenware.  The "herbarium" service was Émile Gallé's first creation, while still a schoolboy. From 1859 to 1868, he made several trips to Savoy, roaming the mountain pastures and collecting plants for his herbarium, which he used as inspiration for his earthenware service in 1865. The Musée d'Orsay preserves the three manuscripts in which he describes it in detail. The Musée de la Faïence et des Beaux-Arts in Nevers holds twenty-two earthenware pieces from the "herbier" service and fifteen works from this famous service. Émile Gallé died of leukemia in 1904 at the age of 58. 

Expertise your property  

 If you happen to own a work by Émile Gallé, request a free appraisal without further delay via our form on our website. A member of Auctie's will contact you promptly to provide you with an estimate of the value of your work, as well as any relevant information about it. If you are considering selling your work, you will also be accompanied by our specialists in order to benefit from alternatives for selling it at the best possible price. 

Recognizing Émile Gallé's signature

Gallé usually signs his works on the background of his creations. Here's an example: