vase

Here, the battle between a white pelican and a savage, dark pterodactyl is symbolic of the battle between the forces of good and evil. This vase noir (dark vase) is made of Galle’s brown verre hyalite (hyalith glass). The vase is also what Gallé called a verrerie parlante, or “speaking” glass. It is inscribed with lines from a well-known poem by the Romantic poet Alfred de Vigny (1797–1863): “Si ton coeur, gémissant du poids de notre vie, Se traîne et se débat comme un aigle blessé. . . (If your heart, moaning under the weight of our life, drags itself struggling like a wounded eagle. . . ).