Around 1900 Gallé produced a number of vases devoted to the forces of nature. This hemispherical bowl on a low stem was made of two-layered glass, clear and milky lilac. At first sight it is not transparent and produces the impression of having been cut from some semiprecious stone. It looks completely different when held up to the light: then its walls begin to shine and a pattern appears formed by the oxide patches introduced into the first clear layer of glass. The shifting play of subdued milky tones and clear green ones and the transitions in the pattern all create a mood suggestive of the marine environment. This "undersea" vase is marked by the poetic vision of nature that characterizes the best works by Gallé.