Lalique Vases – Collecting Hints

Collecting Lalique Vases of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods

Surely the most prolific designer and manufacturer of Art Nouveau and Art Deco Vases and bowls during the first part of the twentieth century, Rene Lalique was one of several houses providing the world with beautiful art glass items along with the Baum brothers and Louis Comfort Tiffany in the 1920s and 30s. Lalique is the acknowledged driving force in high production glass art using both blow moulding and hot glass pressing techniques to create items that are not only beautiful but functional. As his production increased during the 1920s he designed and produced over 150 bowls and 200 vases of all sizes. These were in many finishes and in several colours in addition to clear and frosted.

The Lalique factory produced and shipped not thousands, but millions of glass objects during his lifetime, with all types of commercial applications.

Even though he produced stunning vases and bowls, figurines and boxes, he also produced a large amount of strictly practical and functional items endowed with his signature design genius.

Beautifully simple yet beautiful inkwells, paperweights, bottles, glass partitions, columns, huge pieces such as a glass fountain and a church altar piece were made with the same care and attention to quality of workmanship as his strictly art pieces.

The vases are a subject all to themselves, and the process that Lalique used to make them also made the unique in the time period. He used birds, dragonflies, floral designs, animals of many types, nudes, and geometric designs on almost all of his works and the stylization could be very simple or quite involved.

Pieces ranged from tiny to quite large, and there are hundreds of museums throughout the world that maintain collections of Lalique . They regularly come up at auctions, and despite the hunger for Lalique amongst collectors of the world most are still in individual ownership. This reality makes it a rewarding hunt when attending estate sales and flea markets. Generally, the early pre 1945 vases are signed R. Lalique , and can be either acid etched, moulded in relief, or set into the piece. Script and block lettering were both used. If you are trying to determine if your piece has an authentic signature, the use of a respected collectors guide is highly recommended.

Colour is also critically important. Pricing will range from small to medium clear and frosted glass items to more expensive when more intricate and colored or tinted glass pieces. Lalique comes in red, blue, amber, green, and rarely in black.

Some pieces recently that were clear as originals have been irradiated to turn them a deep purple, but this is not an original finish and experts treat them as fakes. Later Lalique from 1945 through 1977 were produced by Renes son Marc, and while different in many ways than his fathers work, the influence is obvious at once.

Also beautiful and collectable, the markings will be Lalique France. It is gaining value and may be more affordable in many cases than the older pre 1945 pieces.

You can find a massive amount of information on Lalique Vases and other items both online and in your library. It is a treat to the eyes to visit a museum or gallery that has a collection of Lalique on display, and an experience that has set many a collector on the hunt for their own Lalique pieces.

Lalique catalogs of all the original pieces are also available in reprint in bookstores and on line for as little as $30 to well over $200 for coffee table versions. They are priceless assistants when looking for target items, and a valuable resource when trying to identify the piece you have just found.
Remember to always take a pocket guide with you when hunting for Lalique.

Related posts:

1. Collecting Lalique Glass
2. Lalique Cire Perdue
3. Lalique Car Mascots
4. Lalique Art Nouveau Chandeliers