About Lalique Art Glass

Even though he is known today for his antique art glass, René Lalique (1860-1945) began his career in 1881 as a freelance jeweler. Lalique’s fascination with three-dimensional decorative objects informed his Art Nouveau vases, perfume bottles, bowls, and decanters, which were typically pressed into molds to create patterns and reliefs of animals, foliage, or both. Later in his career, Lalique also designed stemware, tableware, clocks, and lamps.

Lalique’s contribution to the field of art glass began roughly in 1902, when he established a small glassworks at Clairfontaine outside of Paris. There he made molded glass plaques and decorative panels. He brought a jeweler’s precise eye to his first pieces, which were created using a jewelry casting process called cire perdue, or lost wax...

In cire perdue, a design would be carved by hand into wax, pressed into clay to create a mold, and then melted out (or lost) so that molten glass could be poured in. It was a primitive process, but Lalique made good use of it through the 1920s.

One of Lalique’s earliest clients was François Coty, who commissioned Lalique to design perfume bottles for him. Lalique would eventually design some 16 bottles for Coty, along with a number of other objects and the windows for Coty’s headquarters in New York at 712 Fifth Avenue (you can still see them today). The workload was so great that in 1909, Lalique rented a larger glassworks at Combs-la-Ville east of Paris. In 1910 he purchased that facility outright.

Combs-la-Ville had long attracted glassblowers, thanks to the area’s plentiful supplies of silica-rich sand. Lalique liked the look of the glass it created, and he chose not to add lead to his batches, even though it meant that his products would not be officially labeled as lead crystal. Lalique preferred his demi-crystal because it was inexpensive and easy to work with. Above all, he liked the milky opalescence of the final product.

Lalique collaborated with Coty through the 1930s. During this time, he also designed perfume bottles for other perfume makers, including d’Orsay and Roger et Gallet, for whom Lalique made a bottle crowned by one of his famous tiara stoppers (one of Lalique’s most copied designs). Later, as Lalique’s name became as synonymous with perfume bottles as Coty’s, he would make empty perfume bottles of his own, the Tantot and Amphitrite being but two examples.

World War I halted production at Combs-la-Ville from 1915 to 1919. And then, in the 1920s, Lalique really hit his stride. It was during this period that he produced a number of one-of-a-kind and limited run vases and sculptural objects. Some bore reliefs of pairs of parakeets and lovebirds, a motif he would use throughout his career. Others featured intricate and slightly fearsome wasps.

The Courges vases from this period are unusual if only because they are relatively rare examples that are saturated with color. Even though the vast majority of Lalique’s work from this period was pearly and opalescent, some of these gourds had metal oxides mixed into the glass to turn them blue (cobalt), red (chromium), or yellow (uranium).

By 1921, Lalique had opened a high-volume factory at Wingen-sur-Moder, in Alsace. The goal was to increase production and make Lalique’s work more affordable to the masses. In the 1920s, Lalique designed some 200 vases for production at Wingen. Here press-molding techniques were perfected. Most of the vases had wide necks so that the plunger used to force molten glass into the mold could be easily removed. The result was an exterior with crisp, sharp lines and an interior that was perfectly smooth.

Vases from this period include the ovoid Ronces, which appear to have been woven from a tangle of thorny vines. Some of the Ronces were translucent; others were amber, blue, or red, the latter being a difficult color to work with. Later, the Ronce design was repurposed as a base for a table lamp. Other vases were adorned with fang-bearing snakes or gazelles sitting beneath a canopy of stars. The molded surface of the decorative Languedoc vase was a tight pattern of what look like stylized coleus leaves.

The 1920s were also a decade for figurative vases and vessels. Most depicted women—Naïades consists of a frieze of mermaids holding aloft a shallow bowl—but some such as the Archers and Palèstre vases featured male forms. Lalique’s famous statuettes also leaned heavily to female nudes, as did his illuminated plaques, with Suzanne (a nude with outstretched arms holding a curtain of glass behind her) being perhaps his most famous.

From around 1925 to 1930, Lalique produced about 20 so-called car mascots, which were designed to replace the hood ornaments on luxury automobiles. Today, these heads of horses, peacocks, and roosters are among the most prized antique Laliques available, if you can even find one. Other examples include a goldfish, a wild boar, and a frog.

Lalique accepted a number of other high-profile architectural commissions during the 1920s, including the dining cars on the Orient Express, the Oviatt Building in Los Angeles, the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. As the 1930s arrived, Lalique’s work embraced Art Deco. Now the molding technologies Lalique had been refining seemed especially at home, particularly in a 1935 piece like Souston, an artichoke-shaped vase whose ridges and lines feel downright architectural.

Tableware and glassware also made an appearance in the 1930s. There were glasses and goblets, tumblers with a matching jug, and lots of carafes, each with its own handsome stopper. Plates and bowls sported swirling patterns suggesting sea urchins, anemones, and sand dollars.

Other pieces from the Depression years include lidded boxes of all sorts (both square and round), ashtrays, and clocks, including one timepiece housed within a panel of opalescent glass that has been molded with reliefs of Lalique’s beloved birds.

But this was the Depression, so in 1937 the glassworks at Combs-la-Ville closed. A second world war would close a second Lalique factory, this time from 1940 to 1945, but Lalique himself stuck around until the Germans surrendered to Allied Forces on May 9, 1945. Two days later, one of the 20th century’s most influential designers would pass away, but his work ensures that he will never be forgotten.

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R.lalique Domr??my Vase Emerald Green Glass$3,500 Ends Friday 1 bid 7 watchers
R Rene Lalique Poissons Opalescent Glass Vase$2,275 Ends Monday 7 bids 29 watchers
C. 1940 R. Lalique France "bacchantes" Vase W/ Sepia$1,926 Ends Thursday 17 bids 62 watchers
Magnificent! C.1920 R. Lalique Opalescent "gui" Vase$1,099 Ends Saturday 7 bids 28 watchers
Exquisite Lalique Versailles Vase Buy it Now$1,025 Ends Monday 4 bids 10 watchers
R Rene Lalique Glass Moineaux Clock & Lit Stand $1,000.00 Ends Monday 4 bids 26 watchers
Rene Lalique Car Mascot Falcon (faucon) Hood Ornament $831.00 Ends Saturday 8 bids 68 watchers
R. Lalique Coupe "ondines Ouverte" $810.00 Ends Tuesday 4 bids 21 watchers
Vintage Lalique Crystal Art Glass Sculptural Bowl 10"$749.99 Ends Thursday 1 bid 6 watchers
Rare Lalique Glass Panther$660.00 Ends Thursday 2 bids 8 watchers
1923 R. Lalique "nefliers" Vase With Blue Patination$610.00 Ends Sunday 15 bids 24 watchers
Lalique French Crystal Double Fish Figurine$500.00 Ends Sunday 1 bid 10 watchers
R. Lalique 5 1/2" Frosted Crystal Bottle W/ Leaf Design$356.00 Ends in 7 hours 9 bids 25 watchers
Lalique Crystal Martinets Vase$355.00 Ends Wednesday 7 bids 13 watchers
Lalique France Eagle Head Hood Mascot Paperweight$331.99 Ends Wednesday 10 bids 11 watchers
1920's Lalique Courges Vase # 900 Clear & Frosted Nice$300.99 Ends Thursday 2 bids 3 watchers
R Lalique "gui No2" Sepia Patina Bowl Cc1930$300.32 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 29 watchers
Rene Lalique Menu Raisin Muscat Circa 1924 - R.lalique$300.00 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 16 watchers
Lalique Crystal Angel Stem Champagne Flute Goblet Pr$299.99 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 5 watchers
Lalique Crystal Angel Champagne Flute Set -original Box$284.00 Ends Tuesday 4 bids 12 watchers
Lalique Orchid Vase$255.00 Ends Thursday 4 bids 8 watchers
Lalique Clear And Frosted Igor Caviar Crystal Bowl$250.00 Ends Monday 1 bid 4 watchers
Lalique Glass Vase-petal Form & Frosted 20c$249.99 Ends Monday 1 bid 8 watchers
Lalique Glass 'dahlia' Candlesticks C.1925 ~ Mega Rare!$211.73 Ends Saturday 13 bids 34 watchers
Lalique Frosted Clear Glass Trumpet Vase French 20c$199.99 Ends in 9 hours 1 bid 4 watchers
Lalique Crystal Buddha - Awesome!$199.99 Ends in 16 hours 7 bids 16 watchers
Lalique Nemours Pattern Bowl 25cm$187.89 Ends in 13 hours 8 bids 27 watchers
Signed Lalique Crystal/frosted "liberty" Eagle #116430$180.27 Ends Thursday 4 bids 11 watchers
Lalique Crystal Double Fish 11622$162.50 Ends Saturday 7 bids 5 watchers
Nina Ricci Coeur Joie Crystal Bottle By Lalique$153.16 Ends Tuesday 7 bids 52 watchers
Lalique Tete D'aigle Eagle Hood Ornament Paperweight$152.50 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 22 watchers
Nina Ricci Coeur Joie Crystal Bottle By Lalique$150.16 Ends Tuesday 10 bids 55 watchers
$655 Nib Lalique Signed Stature Acrobat Figurine$149.99 Ends in 17 hours 1 bid 1 watcher
Lalique Crystal Decanter$145.99 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 2 watchers
Nina Ricci Fille D'eve Crystal Bottle By Lalique$144.90 Ends Tuesday 8 bids 34 watchers
Lalique Crystal Glass Langeais Decanter$142.50 Ends Sunday 15 bids 8 watchers
Lalique Crystal Deco Design "pinsons" Finches Bowl$138.50 Ends Monday 2 bids 5 watchers
Gorgeous Vintage R. Lalique Sparrow Bird$133.50 Ends in 16 hours 6 bids 26 watchers
Lalique Crystal Venus Small Nude Black Noir Beautiful$125.00 Ends in 17 hours 1 bid 6 watchers
1948 Lalique France Crystal Reverie Nude Woman Bookend$123.50 Ends Tuesday 23 bids 40 watchers
Amazing! Lalique R France "chrysis" Paperweight/mascot$122.50 Ends Sunday 13 bids 8 watchers
Vintage Signed Lalique Art Glass Reclining Cat $112.50 Ends Wednesday 8 bids 12 watchers
Signed Lalique Crystal Angel Ange Champagne Flute Glass$110.09 Ends Sunday 8 bids 16 watchers
Lalique Crystal Black Nabhi Meditating Nude Figurine$104.50 Ends Saturday 2 bids 2 watchers
Lalique Crystal Footed Vase W Birds$102.50 Ends Tuesday 12 bids 21 watchers
Set Of 6 Signed Lalique Crystal Glass Tumblers France$100.99 Ends Tuesday 4 bids 5 watchers
Exquisite Lalique Elisabeth Vase Buy it Now$100.00 Ends Monday 1 bid 2 watchers
Lalique Nude Woman With Swan$89.99 Ends Tuesday 1 bid
Lalique France Signed Etched Knife Rest-vintage$89.00 Ends in 18 hours 2 bids 1 watcher
Lalique-saint Hubert Pattern-knife Rest-elegant$89.00 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 3 watchers
Crystal Lalique Psyche Bud Vase. Paris, France$78.00 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 8 watchers
Lalique French Etched-signed-knife Rest-elegant$78.00 Ends Wednesday 2 bids 1 watcher
Lalique-french Etched-signed-knife Rest-elegant$78.00 Ends Wednesday 2 bids 1 watcher
Lalique Glass Rooster Head Paperweight Nib$76.01 Ends Wednesday 8 bids 21 watchers
Lalique Double Lion Head Frosted Glass Tabletop Lighter$76.00 Ends Tuesday 6 bids 9 watchers
Superb Lalique Chrysis Flying Lady Paperweight$75.08 Ends Sunday 1 bid 1 watcher
Ha21 Lalique Lighter & Ashtray Jamaique No Reserve$70.99 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 7 watchers

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Recent News: Lalique Art Glass

Source: Google News

Excess all areas on the Orient-Express
The Australian, March 19th

In the three dining cars - Lalique (with its beautiful frosted glass panels), Etoile du Nord and Chinois - the silver-service waiters have the shunt and...Read more

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A gold, glass and enamel brooch by French master René Lalique has become the most expensive item ever to turn up on tv show Tussen Kunst & Kitsch,...Read more

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Antiques and the Arts Online, March 12th

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The Courthouse Doubletree by Hilton is taking luxury to another level with the launch of the exclusive 'Lalique Crystal Experience', an all-encompassing...Read more

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In addition to china, crystal, Japanese woodblock prints, bronzes, dolls and furniture, the sale includes art glass (Quezal shades, Lalique, Steuben) and a...Read more

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News-antique.com (press release), March 8th

And, art glass offerings include a rare Cire Perdue vase (lost wax casting) attributed to Rene Lalique estimated at $10000 to $15000...Read more

Stuart Kingston & JL Cropper
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The finery of hectic decade
Orillia Packet & Times, February 27th

Rene Lalique moved away from jewelry design and became more involved with glass design. For fresh inspiration, designers turned back to the neo-classicism...Read more