Claude Galle

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Claude Galle (* 1758 in Villepreux ; † 1815 ibid) was a French bronzer and chaser .

Life

Galle was the son of a poultry farmer and in 1784 (still during the reign of Louis XVI ) ran an extravagant trading house in Paris with a large selection of the most varied bronze objects such as fittings for furniture, clocks and other items made of gilded bronze. The maître bronzier (from 1786) was one of the most important traders of such goods in France and ran his studio in the Rue du Four ; later he moved to rue Vivienne . He was the father of numerous children, some of whom worked in his workshop, such as his son Gérard-Jean Galle . Galle also worked with Pierre-Philippe Thomire (also maître bronzier , * 1751; † 1843). In 1806 he received a "Second Class Silver Medal" at an exhibition.

In the early 19th century, he paid numerous French and Italian palaces with bronze art from, including the Palais des Tuileries , the Fontainebleau castle , Schloss Compiègne and Petit Trianon and Grand Trianon in Versailles . The Russian tsarist family also purchased works by Galle, many of which are now on display in the Hermitage (Saint Petersburg) . After the French Revolution , he produced more pieces for Napoleon Bonaparte , from whom he received, among other things, an order for more than 65,000 francs for the Saint-Cloud castle .

Some of his customers were reluctant to pay their bills, which resulted in Galle's financial difficulties. In 1811 he asked the French government for help and protection. In doing so, he recalled the prizes he had won and pointed out the maintenance for his large family and his responsibility for the approximately 400 employees he employed. However, he ultimately had to close his shop and died impoverished in 1815.

Works (selection)

  • Medici vase made of gilt bronze, decorated with allegorical figures dedicated to Bacchus , around 1800. Museum Masséna , Nice.

  • Gilded bronze candlesticks and a gilded bronze clock with the figure of Apollo , late 18th or early 19th century. Musée Massena.

literature

  • Claude Galle . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Saur, Munich 1992 ff.
  • C. Plante, R. Garnier: Designs for Gilt Bronze Objects from the French Restoration 1814-1830 London 2002, pp. 25-26.
  • Hans Ottomeyer, Peter Pröschel: Gilded bronzes. The bronze work of the late baroque and classicism. Munich 1986, p. 371.
  • Richard Mühe, H. Vogel: The fascination of watches. Nikol Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 1976, p. 107.
  • Alexander Ballantyne: French Clocks the World Over. Volume 2, Tardy, Paris 1981, p. 285.

Web links

Commons : Claude Galle  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Bénédicte Savoy: Helmina von Chézy. Life and art in Paris since Napoleon I. Walter de Gruyter, 2009, ISBN 3-05006-226-6 , p. 693.
  2. ↑ Claude Galle. In: J. Paul Getty Museum
personal data
SURNAME Galle, Claude
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French bronzer
DATE OF BIRTH 1758
PLACE OF BIRTH Villepreux
DATE OF DEATH 1815
Place of death Villepreux