Vase with grasshopper design

Since it is of clair de lune glass, it is thought to date from about the time of Gallé's introduction of that glass at the 1878 Paris Exhibition. The reflections in the gently curving surfaces formed by the ridges twisting around the vase are quite lovely. The grasshopper and botanical motifs on the body and the use of gold pigment in a way that suggests maki-e suggest it was influenced by Japanese art. The arabesque around the neck of the vase, however, gives it an Islamic feel and tells of its having been created in full awareness of the taste for the exotic that then reigned.