Material and Context in Art Deco: Jean Sala’s *Vase*
A small glass vase dated about 1925–30 offers a way to discuss malfin glass and Art Deco without reducing the style to one formula.
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What the object record says
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) records Jean Sala’s *Vase* as glass, dated about 1925–30, and measuring 19 cm high by 15.9 cm in diameter. The page currently says “No image available.” Its curator describes Sala as a glass artist of the Art Deco era and discusses the simple forms and applied decoration of his small atelier, along with malfin glass’s bubbles and impurities. This is context about the artist and his practice; it does not establish visual details of this particular vase that the record does not show. The Met object record
Read the exhibition essay alongside the object record
The Met’s *Art Deco Paris* exhibition overview covers several fields of 1920s Parisian design. It says designers often used ivory, shagreen, rare woods, and gold and platinum leaf, and describes inlay, gilding, and lacquer among the techniques used to convey luxury and modernity. Those statements support a broad exhibition context. They do not show that Sala’s vase used those materials or techniques; its object record classifies the medium as glass. The Met exhibition overview
A catalogue-text exercise without an image
The linked object record currently has no image, so this is not a visual-looking exercise. The catalogue text alone can still help separate documented facts from interpretations.
| Check | What the records establish | What the text alone cannot establish |
|---|---|---|
| The vase | Glass; about 1925–30; 19 × 15.9 cm | Direct observation of its surface, color, or form on this page |
| Sala’s practice | Curatorial description of malfin glass, bubbles and impurities, simple forms, and applied decoration | A specific ornament or technique visible on this individual vase |
| Art Deco Paris | The exhibition’s range of materials and decorative techniques | Attributing an exhibition technique to this vase |
This distinction supports a careful description such as “a glass vase by an artist of the Art Deco era,” while a statement such as “this vase is inlaid or lacquered” would need evidence specific to the object. If you later obtain a reliable image separately, note only what it visibly shows and keep those observations distinct from the catalogue text.