This was a time when Rene Lalique was mainly a creative and inspired Jeweller who based his designs mainly on naturalistic swirling creations that featured a multitude of plants and creatures - but always with his own original creative twist.

Rene Lalique

You can see Dragonflies with the body and torso of a beautiful young girl and yet with incrediblly lovely dragonfly wings or rings with Egyptian Scarab beetles that have multiple jewelled eyes.

Lalique Art Nouveau dragonfly

Nothing like these had ever been seen before and it was the friendship with Rene Lalique and Actress Sarah Bernhardt that lead to Lalique meeting Calouste Gulbenkian who became his greatest Patron.

Gulbenkian commissioned stunning necklaces,rings and other jewellery that features in many modern museums.

Rene Lalique became the most desired Jeweller in Paris and he listed nobility,actresses,Royalty of Europe among his clients.

Then came his next step... Perfume Bottles

Lalique art nouveau perfume bottle

His Friend François Spoturno ( who was later known as Coty )commisioned a range of exquisite perfume bttles and almost every fashionable woman in Paris needed right - NOW !

This lead to a rush of other perfumiers and a rapid growth of the Lalique Business.

The combination of Lalique designs and glass lead to a further huge growth of the company.

Many of these can be viewed at the Lalique Museum in Wingen sur moder in Northern France or at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

The best Collection of Lalique Automobile Hood Ornaments is at the Toyota Collection in Japan.

A superb collection of Rene Jules Lalique Jewellery can be viewed at the Musee Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon Portugal.

The  Museum of Fine aArts is also worth visiting and has an excellent Lalique collection.

Comments are welcome when they relate to Lalique and his glass and jewellery only.

Other comments will not be accepted

Lalique Art Nouveau Collectible is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

Some Lalique Glass varies in value according to color.
Some collectors are prepared to pay more for rare differences in color .
These effects were due to differences in additives originally designed to enhance and clarify glassware.

Up until 1930 some glassmakers used Manganese to remove color defects from pressed glass.
This worked well but eventually changed the basic color of the glass when it was exposed to sunlight for a long time.
Arsenic was also used in glassmaking and the color changed to yellow (remember the very old headlamps on cars ?)

It is changes like these that appeal -however there are now services on the internet that will take a not so scarce item and irradiate it (for a fee) and it then morphs into a more desirable color.

Collectors obviously hate this. There are services that will examine glass and report of the likelyhood of irradiation but these are intrusive examination (may require a tiny chip of glass to be removed) and charge several hundred dollars.

A Quick guide is that the most popular color at the moment seems to be purple.
It is very easy to make the piece go too purple in an irradiation process and you may wishe to make enquiries about pieces that look too dark !
If you are purchasing by auction, it is very easy to check the vendors previously sold items -
For instance,if they have recently sold four or five Bacchantes Purple vases then that might be a clue for you not to buy !

Most glassware has NOT been irradiated and it is really only something you should worry about with very expensive pieces.
(If you are buying an expensive piece then please ask for a certificate of authenticity anyway )

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Irradiated Glass is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

Interesting Art Nouveau Websites

www.laliqueartnouveau.com  (this site !)

www.nga.gov/feature/nouveau/nouveau.shtm
Feature about a great Art Nouveau Exhibition

www.artchive.com/artchive/art+nouveau.html
Website about Art Nouveau plus Klimt,Aubrey Beardsley and Alphonse Mucha

www.artlex.com
Good examples of Art Nouveau

www.artnouveau-net/eu/
An interesting network detailing Art Nouveau in various cities in Europe

www.senses-artnouveau.com
Good catalogue of reprod art nouveau jewellery

www.artnet.com
Excellent section on Lalique plus art of the Art Nouveau period

www.collectorsweekly.com/art-glass/lalique
All about lalique art glass

www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/period_artnouveau.shtml
BBC Website with good descriptions of Art Nouveau Glass

http://www.cristallalique.com/

The official website of Lalique (you sholuld preferably have a recent version of Flash to see properly)

http://www.vam.ac.uk/

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London which has some excellent Art Nouveau and Lalique information

http://greatfrenchglass.com/blog/tips-from-an-antiques-market

Excellent article on buying glass at an antiques market

http://greatfrenchglass.com/blog/lalique-copies-and-fakes

Article on How to tell Lalique Copies

http://greatfrenchglass.com/blog/oh-oh-chipped-figurines

How to deal with chipped antique glassware  ( Sister website - with other famous glassmakers)

Art Nouveau interesting Websites is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

First stop was the Musee d'Orsay (used to be a railway station)

I was quite disappointed with the Lalique on view - in fact although there were lots of Art Nouveau Glass from Daum and other glassmakers, there was none on display from Lalique .

What was on show was a small selection of Lalique Jewellery and only one of the pieces on view was up to the standard I was expecting.

What a shame !  but not by any means a wasted day as I studied other French glass instead.

I assume that much of the pieces I had seen in the past were on loan to other museums.

I am looking forward to visiting the Lalique new museum at Wingen in Alsace when it opens.

I did find a couple of pieces of glassware though in a fleamarket but much of what is on show in St Oeuen look like fakes !

Rene Lalique Paris is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

Rene Lalique made a beautiful Gold necklace for this second Wife (Augustine-Alice Ledru)
and this necklace is on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
It is a very special large necklace - enamelled with 9 large and 9 small pendants
featuring Siberian Amethysts and Opals from Australia.

This was a very special piece for Rene as he normally made jewellery from semi precious stones instead of the normal precious metals like gold,silver and Platinum.
Rene usually preferred to use ivory and even horn to decorate his pieces although he did favour moonstones and Baroque Pearls
against a background of precious metals.
This piece has repetition of the main motif of a lovely gold lady with swirling hair above two swans on each pendant

It has formed part of a lalique exhibition in a number of countries
Remember that as well as the store inside the Metropolitan Museum, a number of reproductions of special pieces from their collection
in their other shop on the mezzanine of Macy's Store in New York
This necklace can be seen at http://www.metmuseum.org/

Lalique at The Met is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

Books on Lalique and lalique catalogues including auction catalogues.

If you are a serious collector or dealer in Lalique then good reference Lalique books and catalogues are really the only way to become  a specialist without visiting many museums and collections.

(if you ARE visiting Museums then remember to pick up 2 copies of each guide/catalogue one for yourself and one to resell later !)

Fortunately books on lalique frequently appear here at reasonable prices so that make your choice more simple.

Many Lalique books are in French (that includes the best illustrated ones) so you will benefit more if you have a smattering of French.

Books on Lalique is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

Although Lalique was primarily a Glass Designer he was equally known for his beautiful Jewels.

He is particularly renowned for his designs of Vases,Chandeliers,perfume bottles and jewellery.

From his birth Ay in Marne,France in 1860, he loved nature and in his early teens he began to paint
He love natural History and the flowing forms of nature
Later this love of nature became one of his trademarks because of his unique style..

Rene studied drawing and design at the Colege Turgot.

His mother realised how much he loved painting and design and apprenticed him to Louis Aucoc a major Jeweller in Paris.

He also studied at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in the evenings and subsequently studied at Sydenham College in London England at a very fortunate time.

During his holidays back in Ay he drew sketches of nature and wildlife and this influenced his work throughout his life.

England was the the very centre of the Arts and Crafts movement and he was inspired not only by the artisits of that movement but also by what he saw at the Crystal Palace Exhibition.

In 1880 he returned to Paris where he studied Jewellery manufacturing and then sculpture under Justin Lequien at the Ecole Bernard Palissy.

This time influenced his later work as much of Palissy Pottery was relief decorated and had realistically modelled fish,lizards,snakes and plants.

From this background of Art and Design, he evolved flowing and often erotic designs and the influence of Palissy is shown in his vases
such as the Sauterelles and Martin Pecheurs designs .

His most famous single work is probably the Perruches bowl from the 1920s which had a frieze of beautiful moulded parakeets on Opalescent Glass.

In later years he became famous not only for art nouveau Glass but also for Art Nouveau Jewellery.
He became the most famous jeweller in Paris and supplied the Crowned Heads of Europe withjewellery and trinkets in the Art Nouveau Style.
His friendship with the famous actresss Sarah Bernhardt introduced him to a huge range of highly fashionable clients including the Oil Mogul Nubar Gulbenkian who became Renes major Patron

Rene Lalique Early Years is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

1900 Paris Exposition Universelle is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

Antiques expert Eric Knowles has a wonderful fund of knowledge about Rene Lalique and his works.
He is of course a well known presenter on tv and regularly values antiques on the Antiques Roadshow and
is the resident Antiques Expert on This Morning.

Eric has a really funny stage show called Antique Antics and this includes a fun show with slides and a series
of enjoyable anecdotes about the antiques of the nation.
If this show visits near to you I really advise you to go to it for a fun and informative evening.

If you are unable to visit one of the Antique Antics show thenthere is a chance to meet Eric on one of his
Antiques Tours which he leads with Arena Travel (www.arenatravel.com)
These include tours to Prague,Vienna,Budapest, Berlin,Lisbon,Meissen and Dresden as well as UK visits to
Ironbridge,Coalport and Glasgow .

His Website is at :

http://www.ericknowles.co.uk

Eric Knowles – Expert on Lalique is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com

Quality of the moulding: is there good detail? As moulds get older detail gets weaker.
Original staining adds to value.
Enamelled items, is there damage? Damage to enamelled items can cost more to repair that the item is worth.
Damage to an enamelled piece makes it virtually worthless.

Colored lalique: is it the most desirable color?
Some Colours are much more desirable than others
You could get badly stung if you pay rare prices for a common piece.-

Check on ebay to see what the piece you are considering has sold for in the past.

Check for damage such as grinding down edge chips, polishing , chips, cracks or drill holes.
Check if the piece is complete, is there a base, lid or original stopper missing? If so you may have problems sourcing a replacement.
Has it been converted, for example a bowl to a sconce or hanging light? Collectors want pieces in original condition.

The following is a guide only, as there are many variations and exceptions as to how lalique glass
is marked.
Early pieces were engraved by hand - by the artisan himself so there are variations between pieces.

The greatest confusion for new collectors is how the R is used in the signature. Some people believe that the use of the R means the piece must be made before 1945 and if there is no R that is must be after 1945. This is not so.

Pieces that are signed R. Lalique can be from old moulds such as worth perfume bottles issued with the R until very recently and some early lalique may not have the R.
Remember that many FAKE Lalique pieces are still being produced in Czech Republic,Romania and Taiwan.
Some of these are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.
Fakes are usually only made of EXPENSIVE pieces - like the top vases. Fakes of Lalike minor pieces such as modern fish or glass rings are almost unknown.
If you are in any doubt then try to get a certificate of authenticity.
For pieces under $100 in value it is almost impossible to get a certificate of authenticity ...

Glass Condition is a post from: laliqueartnouveau.com