The Mystique of Lalique

Glass aficionados and novices the world over marvel at the artistic grace, beauty, and style of the glass creations of Reneé Lalique. But in addition to his splendid vases and chandeliers, Lalique was also a great creator of innovative jewelry (his first artistic profession), glass clocks, car mascots (hood ornaments), and perfume bottles.

Reneé Lalique was born on April 6, 1860 in Ay, France. Recognizing her son's artistic talent, his mother steered him at the age of 16 to an apprenticeship with the famous Paris jeweler, Louis Aucoc. By the age of 21, Lalique was creating his own original jewelry. In 1885, he opened a workshop where his unique style soon gained great notoriety due to his use of flowing and majestic plant, animal, and human forms. In addition to the great beauty of his work, Lalique's jewelry created a stir because his designs paired semi-precious stones with the unexpected horn, ivory, pearl, coral, enamel, and even plastic or glass. Lalique's jewelry eventually attracted international attention, and the actress Sarah Bernhardt was among his many notable clients.

In 1900, Reneé Lalique exhibited his innovative jewelry at the Paris Exposition Universelle, attracting large crowds and creating a great demand for his work. But after achieving the pinnacle of success in this field, Lalique soon refocused his artistic talents on another medium: glass.

Lalique had already experimented with glass in jewelry making. At age 50, Lalique embarked on a new career as a master glassmaker that would gain him a worldwide fame that continues today. Lalique opened a shop near the business of the famous perfumier Francois Coty. In 1907, he began creating classic perfume bottles for Coty. Eventually, he was engaged to do the same for Worth, Forvil, D'Orsay, Guerlain, Rogeret et Gallet, and many others. In all, Lalique created more than 250 different bottles. Although most today sell for modest prices, in 1990, a Lalique perfume bottled fetched $80,000 at auction. A few years ago, a L'ldylle flacon sold for $58,350 at the Philips Geneva flacon auction, and a Japanese bidder paid $8,625 for a Lalique Bochon Fleurs de Pommiers design at a William Doyle Galleries auction in New York.

Reneé Lalique soon sought to bring art into everyday life by mass producing stemware, tableware, inkwells, clocks, chandeliers, and of course, vases. Some have criticized him as being a "commercial artist" rather than a true artist. Indeed at the height of production, his factories employed up to 600 people to create millions of pieces of glassware. But despite his mechanized approach to production, few if any can criticize the imagination and beauty of his work, which in the end defines a true artist. Rather than creating a few pieces at a time that would only be affordable to a few, Lalique mass produced his work so many could enjoy it.

Lalique also "personalized" much of his work with frosting, polishing, and glazing to give it the look of an individual touch.

Enamored by the new invention of his day the automobile Lalique turned his hand in the 1920s to decorating the hoods of cars. True to his love for the grace of the human and animal form, Lalique created 29 "car mascots" in the shapes of fish, horse head, frog, dragonfly, shooting star, and St. Christopher Carrying the Christ Child. Female nudes were also a favorite design.

Lalique designed all the mascots to be illuminated from within as if his work needed help to attract attention. A 6- or 12-volt bulb was connected to the car's wiring to provide the illumination. Filters were also used to change the color of the light to red, blue, green, amber, or mauve.

Lalique mascots ornamented the hoods of the most stylish cars of the day Bentley, Hispano Suiza, Isotta Fraschini, and Bugatti. Today, these hood ornaments are quite the collector's items.

But nowhere in all his work in glass is Renee Lalique more renowned than in the vase. His true masterful talent shines in the amber, plum, blue, opalescent, gray, green, black, and yellow hues he obtained by meticulously adding measured amounts of pigment to darkened glass. Striking animal figures, mythical beasts, and geometric shapes poured from his fertile mind. Lalique's art deco style of creating jewelry followed through to his work in glass. Geometric designs, smooth, flowing lines, and vibrant colors are all characteristic patterns and qualities of Lalique. Today, museums around the world feature the glasswork of Lalique.

John D. Shearer, a Canadian gemologist and 30-year Lalique collector, says about value: "Prices vary enormously. A small, common colorless glass vase in average condition might sell in the low hundreds, and a large very rare art deco vase can range from $2,000 to a quarter of a million dollars. Many collectors are happy to collect vases in the $1,000-$1,500 range. These are quite attractive and as available as they were popular in the 1920s and '30s when they were produced in fairly large quantities.

Shearer recommends consulting with reputable dealers and reading specialty books before buying.

"For the new collector, the two most important considerations are condition (chips, repairs such as ground down edges, drill holes from converted vases) and authenticity. The condition can reduce the value in extreme case by up to 90%. As for authenticity, there is very little worry about known Lalique designs being faked. But there is a very big problem with modern Czech glass bearing Lalique signatures. These can be seen on eBay in large volume being sold as Lalique. You can also see less valuable French glass of the 1920s with a Lalique signature."

(Photo courtesy John Shearer)

Color counts in Lalique vases: colorless, $1,000-$2,000; opalescent, $3,000; red, $7,500; amber, $7,000; yellow, $5,500; gray, $3,000; electric blue, $25,000.

(Photo courtesy John Shearer)

For the collector with deeper pockets, Sotheby's sold a 7.5 inch, turquoise blue Lalique frosted vase (Courges, introduced 1914) inscribed "R.Lalique France" for $9,600.

Lalique used mass production techniques to make his work available and affordable to people in most income brackets. Literally millions of pieces have been created since the early 1900s, and Lalique factories continue to produce fine glass and crystal today.

In the 1940s, World War II forced the closure of his factory, and he died in 1945 before it could be reopened. After his death, Lalique's son Marc began the company anew, and in 1948, he instituted a change in the medium from demi-crystal to full lead crystal. Lalique's granddaughter, Marie-Claude, later led the company and implemented her own style with clear crystal accented with colored motifs.

The pre-WWII Lalique pieces are the most highly sought after by collectors. Lalique marked his work even the mass-produced pieces "R. Lalique," however, this is only a general rule of thumb. The signature can be found in molded, script, print, and curved designs. Also, the leading "L" in the earlier cursive "Lalique" signatures has a curleyque on top, making the letter resemble an "S." Lalique used too many signatures in too many ways to give a definitive guideline as to what was made before or after 1945. To find reference books and Lalique experts, call 800-CRISTAL.

The pieces created by Marc Lalique are signed "Lalique France," and "Lalique h France" is the work of Marie-Claude.

Today, Lalique has grown into a "lifestyle brand," offering jewelry, perfume, scarves, and leather accessories... in addition to crystal. Whether modern, vintage, Art Deco, or antique, the enduring beauty of Lalique is its mystique.

References:

Jonh Shearer: www.deco1925.com or email deco1925@bellnet.ca
David Weinstein, DJL Trading Company, www.r-lalique.com, 212-535-7802.
The Official Lalique Website, www.lalique.com.
Tony Wraight, "Rene Lalique Pre-War Mascots," www.fine-art.demon.co.uk

John D. Shearer's criteria for judging the value of Lalique glass:

*Quality of molding: is there good detail? As molds get older, detail gets weaker.
*Original staining adds to value.
*Enameled items, is there damage?
*Check for damage such as grinding, polishing, chips, cracks or drill holes.
*Is it complete, is there a base, lid or original stopper missing?
*Has it been converted, for example a bowl to a sconce or hanging light?
*Colored Lalique: is it the most desirable color? Color can make an enormous difference on price. For instance, a fairly easily obtainable but desirable vase "FORMOSE" is usually seen in colorless glass with applied stain or in opalescent. The auction value would be about $1,000-$2,000 dollars; in green, around $4,000; red, about $8,000; and in "electric" blue, about $25,000. This order of color is similar in other pieces, but may not be as dramatic or in quite the same order. Some colors are more rare and desirable. In the well-known Bacchantes vase, colorless would be about $6,000; opalescent $15,000; topaz and yellow about $18,000; and very dark amethyst about $25,000.