ÉMILE GALLÉ (1846-1904) La Berce des prés, circa 1902/03 Exceptional Sauteuse chest of drawers in ash veneer and carved and stained beech. The suspended body accommodates two drawers decorated on the front with meadow Berce bordering a marsh with water lilies and a frog, in precious and indigenous wood marquetry. The carved openwork belt repeats the decorative theme of umbellifers. The four corner jambs are treated and carved in the arborescent style. The top is made of an overhanging scrolled top. The panelled back is in walnut. Condition and restorations, central part of the openwork belt redone. Signed GALLÉ in vertical Japanese letters in the marquetry. H. 84 cm - W. 107 cm - D. 63 cm Bibliography : Alastair Duncan and Georges de Bartha - Gallé Furniture - Éditions Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk, U.K., 2012. The preparatory drawing and the execution tracing for the marquetry decoration of this commode model, both in the Musée d'Orsay, are reproduced on page 330.