The natural approach: Art Nouveau glass from a huge single-owner collection

Many examples are on offer in A Natural Eye – A Private Collection of the Applied & Decorative Arts, a dedicated sale held by Special Auction Services of Newbury on September 1.

Internationalist at heart

Born in Germany in 1939, raised in Wuppertal amid the Second World War, and drawn to England at the age of 18 with an excitement for exotic possibilities, Marianne Gale (née Bonitz) was a modern internationalist at heart who carried a deep affection for the decorative aesthetic that had blossomed across Europe in the early 20th century.

Her eye for detail was forged in her father’s smithy and developed with obsessive vigour through self-taught knowledge of Art Nouveau. She frequented antiques fairs and befriended dealers to the point where she herself became an expert collector and accomplished trader.

A desire to be surrounded by beauty brought Lalique and Daum glassware, Mackintosh lampshades, Morris fabrics and Bauhaus furniture into her home, which became a rich repository of Arts and Crafts and early modernist design.

Later in life, as worldwide travel mirrored the movements of her children and took her to South America, the Far East, Asia Minor and Africa, her collection expanded to include Japanese woodblock prints, Chinese woodwork, African art, ethnic jewellery and tribal ornaments.

Here are five lots of Art Nouveau glass at a wide array of estimates on offer at A Natural Eye.

Lalique sign of quality (pictured top)

This Rene Lalique Sauterelles ovoid glass vase, frosted blue and green, catalogue number 888, ovoid vase with moulded grasshopper design on reeds, grasshopper in stained green, ground in stained blue, has etched signature to base R Lalique. The 27.5cm vase is estimated at £2500-3500.

To bid for this Rene Lalique Sauterelles ovoid glass vase visit thesaleroom.com.

Nude nymph

A continental Art Nouveau bronze and Loetz glass table lamp, by Claude Bonnefond, c.1900 - estimate £1000-1500 at Special Auction Services on September 1.

A continental Art Nouveau bronze and Loetz glass table lamp, by Claude Bonnefond, c.1900, the lilypad leaf with whiplash bulrush design supporting an intertwined stem with emerging nude water nymph on an arched top and iridescent shell shaped glass shade, signed to side. Estimated at £1000-1500, the lamp is 37cm high x 21cm deep x approximately 14cm wide.

You can see this glass table lamp by Claude Bonnefond on thesaleroom.com

Liquor set

A Powell & Sons glass liquor set, comprising a conical tankard and four shallow bowled stemmed glasses - estimate £100-200 at Special Auction Services on September 1.

A Powell & Sons glass liquor set, comprising a conical tankard and four shallow bowled stemmed glasses, is estimated at £100-200. The blown decanter with angle poise handle and lift off stopper is decorated with a green trailed band interspersed with blue glass roundels is 17.5cm high, the similarly decorated glasses 7.8cm high.

Check thesaleroom.com to view the Powell & Sons glass liquor set.

Pink poppies

A French Longchamp Terre Defer majolica Art Nouveau ovoid vase - estimate £100-150 at Special Auction Services on September 1.

Estimated at £100-150, this French Longchamp Terre Defer majolica Art Nouveau ovoid vase, with moulded decoration of pink poppies with blue stems and leaves on a green and yellow alternating ground in a spiral formation surmounted on a quatrefoil moulded base, impressed mark and numbered 1402 with turquoise interior, stands 43cm high.

To bid for the Longchamp Terre Defer majolica Art Nouveau ovoid vase see thesaleroom.com.

Go for gold

A Rene Lalique frosted glass paperweight, modelled as a goldfinch - estimate £120-180 at Special Auction Services on September 1.

Another design from Rene Lalique is this frosted glass paperweight, modelled as a goldfinch titled Chardonneret Hardi number 1150 from 1929. On a domed base with acid etched signature R Lalique, it is 8.5cm high x 10.5cm wide x 4.8cm deep and is estimated at £120-180.

You can see this Rene Lalique Chardonneret Hardi frosted glass paperweight via thesaleroom.com.