Emile GALLE (1846-1904) Two-top molded walnut tea table in marquetry of different woods, decorated with flowers and rhubarb leaves. The upper top bears the inscription "Sicut Hortus semen suum germinat sicdeus germinabit justitiam", with metal side handles on the lower top. Signed and dated 1898 in a cartouche on the upper tray. 80.5 × 88 × 62 cm. Slightly missing. This 1898 table is one of Émile Gallé's Dreyfusard works. The quotation on the top plate ("as a garden makes seed germinate, so God will make justice germinate") taken from the Old Testament (Prophetic Books Is.XL 61) is a call for justice in reference to the Dreyfus affair. An identical table is in the collections of the Musée de l'Ecole de Nancy. Bibliography: - Bertrand Tillier, Émile Gallé, le verrier dreyfusard, Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2004, model reproduced and referenced p.69 under n°8.