Two-layer tea table with carved edges and legs by Emile Gallé. The two surfaces are exquisitely carved using a combination of rosewood, walnut and fruitwood, and depict shrubs and large leaves, possibly plane-tree leaves. The lower level is further adorned with two metal handles. The upper level bears a Latin inscription which can be translated as follows: “Just as God has allowed seeds to sprout and grow, in the same way justice should be spread all over the world”. This is a possible reference to the Dreyfus Affair, the military scandal that engulfed the French army in 1894, when Alfred Dreyfuss, a French artillery officer of Jewish descent, was unjustly accused of espionage for the German army, and consequently demoted and imprisoned, only to be exonerated and reinstated. This table was displayed at the Paris Exposition of 1900, as an inlay in the lower left-hand corner of the upper level attests, with the inscription “1900 Exs” next to the signature “Gallé”