Art Deco Hand Enameled Glass Vase by Charles Schneider, France, 1920

An exceptional and rare vase by Charles Schneider, of tall baluster form in pale opalescent glass, hand-decorated with a vivid enameled Art Deco design in orange, green, purple, blue, and gilt. The neck and shoulder are banded with a bold zigzag chevron motif rendered in green, purple, and mustard-gold enamel, framing a pair of applied cabochon-style glass "jewels" in mottled red-orange. Below, stylized swagged garlands in gold sweep down toward a vertical cascade of geometric enameled roundels in deep purple with green and blue centers, terminating at a compressed, decorated foot painted with radiating stylized fronds in green and aubergine.

This piece is a striking departure from Schneider's better-known internally-decorated art glass (as seen in the maker's celebrated marmoréen and Tango lines), showcasing instead the firm's rarer surface-enameled decoration — a technique combining hand-painted vitrifiable enamels with applied glass prunts to create a jewel-like, almost Orientalist Art Deco effect. The base is signed in orange script "Schneider" with the maker's cordier (glass-cutter) pennant mark.