Lovely Lalique
September 2006
The whole world seems to be buzzing about either René Lalique, the great early 20th-century glass designer or LALIQUE, the company that carries on his legacy. Besides the museum devoted to Lalique in Hakone, Japan, a permanent collection in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and “Deco Lalique,” a current exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum (through Jan. 28), a new
Lalique boutique in Hong Kong has joined others in Los Angeles and New York. In addition, a variety of auction houses (including Christie’s New York and London, Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville, New Jersey, and Manichi Auction in Japan) hold specialized Lalique auctions. And if you can’t attend any of these events or visit the museums, the Lalique Collectors’ Society can keep you informed about vintage and contemporary Lalique in articles published biannually in its Lalique Magazine.
René Lalique (1860–1945) was already a renowned jewelry master when he decided to infuse his Art Nouveau sensibilities into glass and crystal in 1907, and began creating perfume bottles for the famous perfumier François Coty. Unlike any Art Nouveau jewelry artist of his time, Lalique was known for exalting women and the natural world in his works—and such themes continued to inspire him in this new medium. Lalique’s architectural glass masterworks graced storied emblems of the era as the Normandie ocean liner and the Orient Express luxury train. Realizing the decorative possibilities of glass, he molded his stylized, sensuous motifs into friezes, doors, fountains, light fixtures, hood mascots, vases, bookends and other objects. Although his early jewelry pieces were fabricated one at a time, he ultimately concluded that an object was no less beautiful if it was mass-produced and thus brought his new designs into everyday usage. Although the original molds have been remade today by LALIQUE, the company, most of the machines first built by Lalique are still being used today, as is the laborious method of sculpting and reworking the crystal by hand. While today’s LALIQUE products preserve the artist’s legacy for richness in figurative detail and highly sculptural qualities, a contemporary piece might be updated to suit today’s aesthetic. For example, crystal jewelry pendants might be suspended on silk, leather or embroidered velvet.
“René Lalique had a passion for creating large architectural pieces that could be incorporated in everyday living spaces,” says Guillaume Gauthereau, president of LALIQUE North America.
“However, their application was more monumental than personal. Through the years the company has looked to adapt this architectural vision and know-how to everyday living.” Apart from design, scale and use modifications, the creative medium originally used by Lalique was a demi-crystal—glass with 12 percent lead. These vintage pieces were often simply referred to as “glass,” and the smaller percentage of lead actually made these pieces stronger and easier to carve. This was particularly helpful with Lalique’s larger, more architectural pieces. However, today the company uses 24 percent lead crystal, or full-lead crystal, which adds more delicacy to its pieces and is brighter than its vintage counterparts.
The LALIQUE factory in France still produces some original Lalique designs. One notable example is the Bacchantes vase, which features nude women in relief. Toronto-based decorative arts dealer John Shearer reports that “the popular opalescent Bacchantes vase was first introduced for sale in France in 1927 for 1,650 French francs [about $65]; the best examples today can bring $75,000.” A contemporary Bacchantes, however, will cost about $3,950. “Other pre-1945 Lalique vases range from $500 to $350,000 and higher.” At a February 2006 Christie’s auction, a 1912 Lalique Grenouilles et Nénuphars molded-glass vase sold for $318,400. At the same auction a 1920 Lalique Trois Paons, a glass surtout de table, sold for $120,000. Clearly the popularity of vintage Lalique endures. The Japanese, in particular, have had a long love affair with anything Lalique since many of his designs, both vintage and new, incorporate a Japanese sensibility.
Bonhams & Butterfields’ 2005 Market Review notes that “Lalique glass continues to be contested internationally, and good prices were seen for colored pieces and rarer examples, but commonly seen bowls and plates have not increased in value in the last two to three years.” “Aside from the consistency of quality that has always been associated with the brand Lalique, one just has to look through the catalogue raisonné,” says Palm Beach dealer Albert Levy, explaining Lalique’s appeal to collectors. “It is this documentation that also draws our clients to contemporary Lalique pieces,” says Dave Donovan, manager of J.E. Caldwell & Co. at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware. “It gives the name Lalique prestige and validation. They like to get into the history of Lalique, and this is proven time and again by the consistent appeal of contemporary Lalique pieces. Currently we see that ‘trademark’ Lalique pieces are viewed as the more sculptural—dramatic figural pieces such as dragonflies, nudes, butterflies and the like—with popular prices ranging from about $295 to $800. But vases and bowls that cost about $500 to $700 are in demand as well.”
Contemporary Lalique pieces aren’t yet seeing the steep prices that vintage Lalique designs command at auction and in fine antiques galleries. But their time almost certainly will come, particularly with the current production of rare, limited-edition and numbered pieces.
Antiques and decorative arts writer Donna Pulese-Murphy is on the Advisory Council for the Williams Art Center at Lafayette College and holds certificates from the Studio Workshop School in Art Therapy and in Antique Jewelry from the University of Maine.
 |
THEN: Grenouilles et Nénuphars vase, introduced in 1912, molded |
René Lalique (1860–1945) was already a renowned jewelry master when he decided to infuse his Art Nouveau sensibilities into glass and crystal in 1907, and began creating perfume bottles for the famous perfumier François Coty. Unlike any Art Nouveau jewelry artist of his time, Lalique was known for exalting women and the natural world in his works—and such themes continued to inspire him in this new medium. Lalique’s architectural glass masterworks graced storied emblems of the era as the Normandie ocean liner and the Orient Express luxury train. Realizing the decorative possibilities of glass, he molded his stylized, sensuous motifs into friezes, doors, fountains, light fixtures, hood mascots, vases, bookends and other objects. Although his early jewelry pieces were fabricated one at a time, he ultimately concluded that an object was no less beautiful if it was mass-produced and thus brought his new designs into everyday usage. Although the original molds have been remade today by LALIQUE, the company, most of the machines first built by Lalique are still being used today, as is the laborious method of sculpting and reworking the crystal by hand. While today’s LALIQUE products preserve the artist’s legacy for richness in figurative detail and highly sculptural qualities, a contemporary piece might be updated to suit today’s aesthetic. For example, crystal jewelry pendants might be suspended on silk, leather or embroidered velvet.
“René Lalique had a passion for creating large architectural pieces that could be incorporated in everyday living spaces,” says Guillaume Gauthereau, president of LALIQUE North America.
 |
NOW: Mossi vase, 2006, |
The LALIQUE factory in France still produces some original Lalique designs. One notable example is the Bacchantes vase, which features nude women in relief. Toronto-based decorative arts dealer John Shearer reports that “the popular opalescent Bacchantes vase was first introduced for sale in France in 1927 for 1,650 French francs [about $65]; the best examples today can bring $75,000.” A contemporary Bacchantes, however, will cost about $3,950. “Other pre-1945 Lalique vases range from $500 to $350,000 and higher.” At a February 2006 Christie’s auction, a 1912 Lalique Grenouilles et Nénuphars molded-glass vase sold for $318,400. At the same auction a 1920 Lalique Trois Paons, a glass surtout de table, sold for $120,000. Clearly the popularity of vintage Lalique endures. The Japanese, in particular, have had a long love affair with anything Lalique since many of his designs, both vintage and new, incorporate a Japanese sensibility.
Bonhams & Butterfields’ 2005 Market Review notes that “Lalique glass continues to be contested internationally, and good prices were seen for colored pieces and rarer examples, but commonly seen bowls and plates have not increased in value in the last two to three years.” “Aside from the consistency of quality that has always been associated with the brand Lalique, one just has to look through the catalogue raisonné,” says Palm Beach dealer Albert Levy, explaining Lalique’s appeal to collectors. “It is this documentation that also draws our clients to contemporary Lalique pieces,” says Dave Donovan, manager of J.E. Caldwell & Co. at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware. “It gives the name Lalique prestige and validation. They like to get into the history of Lalique, and this is proven time and again by the consistent appeal of contemporary Lalique pieces. Currently we see that ‘trademark’ Lalique pieces are viewed as the more sculptural—dramatic figural pieces such as dragonflies, nudes, butterflies and the like—with popular prices ranging from about $295 to $800. But vases and bowls that cost about $500 to $700 are in demand as well.”
Contemporary Lalique pieces aren’t yet seeing the steep prices that vintage Lalique designs command at auction and in fine antiques galleries. But their time almost certainly will come, particularly with the current production of rare, limited-edition and numbered pieces.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
►A.B. Levy
Palm Beach, Fla.
561.835.9139
www.ablevypb.com
►Bonhams & Butterfields
San Francisco
415.861.7500
www.bonhams.com
►Christie’s New York
Joshua
Holdeman, department head, 20th-century decorative art and design.
212.636.2000
www.christies.com
►J.E. Caldwell
Wilmington, Del.
302.656.1605
►John Shearer
Toronto
416.922.9322
www.deco1925.com
►Lalique Museum
Hakone, Japan
011.81.460.4.2255
www.lalique-museum.com/eng
►LALIQUE North America
Carlstadt, N.J.
201.939.4199
www.cristallalique.fr
Locations include:
Boutique Lalique
2 Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, Calif., and 712 Madison Ave., N.Y.
See Web site for other locations. For membership in the LALIQUE
Collectors Society, contact Jonathan Smith, 201.939.4199, ext. 103, or at jsmith@lalique.com.
►Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Paris
011.44.55.57.50
www.paris.org/Musees/Decoratifs
►Rago Arts & Auction Center
Lambertville, N.J.
609. 397.9374
www.ragoarts.com
►Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto
416.586.8000
www.rom.on.ca
►Sotheby’s New York
James Zemaitis, director,
20th-century decorative arts and design.
(212) 894-2019
www.sothebys.com
Antiques and decorative arts writer Donna Pulese-Murphy is on the Advisory Council for the Williams Art Center at Lafayette College and holds certificates from the Studio Workshop School in Art Therapy and in Antique Jewelry from the University of Maine.
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