René Jules Lalique (; 6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments.

Life

Lalique's early life was spent learning the methods of design and art he would use in his later life. At the age of two, his family moved to the suburbs of Paris, but traveled to Aÿ for summer holidays. These trips influenced Lalique later on in his naturalistic glasswork. With the death of his father, Lalique began working as an apprentice to goldsmith Louis Aucoc in Paris. Lalique died on 1 May or 5 May 1945, in Paris. René Lalique was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. His daughter Suzanne Lalique was the painter and set designer for the Comédie-Française. His son Marc Lalique continued the family business as a glass artist himself. It was under his impetus that the Maison Lalique began its transition from glass to crystal in the early 1950s. Marc's daughter, Marie Claude-Lalique (b. 1936), was also a glass maker who died on 14 April 2003 in Fort Myers, Florida. Aucoc was among the leading jewelers working in Paris at the time, and this provided the young René Lalique with an excellent opportunity to learn jewelry production and design. During this time, Lalique also studied at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. By 1881, Lalique worked as a freelance designer for several French jewelry firms, including Cartier and Boucheron. In 1886, he started working in his workshop in Paris, in the former workshop of Jules Destape.

In 1890, René Lalique opened a jewelry store in the Opéra district of Paris. While working in this new shop, some of René Lalique's most famous jewelry designs were created, as well as his experimentation and use of glass.

The main motif of Lalique's jewelry design was the natural world. His designs often featured motifs such as dragonflies, orchids, and peacocks, crafted using a combination of enamel, gemstones, and semi-precious materials. Lalique surrounded himself at work with flowers to serve as subtle inspiration for his art. These motifs symbolized the organic flow of life, metamorphosis, and beauty in motion. He was influenced not only by the nature of the French countryside but also by the motifs of Japanese nature art. And he incorporated many materials into his jewelry that were not widely used in high-end jewelry in his time, including glass, horn, pearl, semi-precious stones, enamel, and ivory. He used typical period gemstones only for artistic appearance and not for their value. Therefore, his Lalique jewelry creations were not just holders of precious stones, they were works of art in their own right, creating worldwide interest and great demand.

Art Nouveau jewellery designer

When he returned from England, he worked as a freelance artist, designing pieces of jewellery for French jewelers Cartier, Boucheron, and others. In 1885, he opened his own business, designed and made his own jewellery and other glass pieces. After 1895, Lalique also created pieces for Samuel Bing's Paris shop, the Maison de l'Art Nouveau, which gave Art Nouveau its name.

One of Lalique's major patrons was Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, who commissioned more than 140 of his works over nearly 30 years. Many of these works can be seen on permanent display at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Portugal.

Glass maker

Lalique was best known for his creations in glass art.

As part of the Art Nouveau style, many of his jewellery pieces and vases showcase plants, flowers and flowing lines.

In 1907, Lalique began collaborating with François Coty to design luxury perfume bottles. He eventually created hundreds of different models, many of which became iconic, for companies such as Guerlain, Houbigant, Worth, Rogeret et Gallet, D'Orsay, Forvil, and Worth.

Lalique was also a pioneer in the use of 'pâte-de-verre,' an ancient glassworking technique, which he used to mold ground glass into intricate, lifelike forms in both jewelry and decorative objects.

Both unique and commercial works of René Lalique are in the collections of a large number of public museums around the world including the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, the Lalique Museum of Hakone in Japan, the and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in France, the in Germany, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum and the Corning Museum in New York State, and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

File:Vase - René Lalique.JPG|Glass vase, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

File:Lalique "Thistle" pendant.jpg|Pendant, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

File:Necklace MET DT1423.jpg|Necklace designed for Lalique's second wife, Alice Ledru, ca 1897–99, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

File:A lighting fixture of René Lalique in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.jpg|A lighting fixture in the great dining room in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.

File:Khalili Collection Enamels of the World FR919.jpg|Corsage ornament, Khalili Collection of Enamels of the World

File:Nude Vénus.jpg|Nude Venus of René Lalique in the Mougins Museum of Classical Art

File:Mistletoe Bowl - Rene Lalique - ABDAG011042.jpg|Mistletoe Bowl, Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums

File:MAK BJ-1211 1 Fingerring Réné Lalique.jpg|Finger ring with bean pod motif in the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna

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See also

  • Art Nouveau in Paris

References

Bibliography

  • Bayer, Patricia & Waller, Mark: The Art of René Lalique, Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, London 1988
  • Dawes, Nicholas M.: Lalique Glass, Crown Publishers, London 1986
  • Elliott, Kelley J. René Lalique: Enchanted by Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York 2014.
  • Weiner, Geoffrey George Unique Lalique Mascots, The Book Guild Ltd., Brighton 2014
  • Weiner, Geoffrey George Unique Lalique Mascots, Grosvenor House Publishing Co.2020
  • Weiner, Geoffrey George Catalogue Raisonne, The Definitive Collector's Guide to Lalique Automobile Mascots (Decorative Hood Ornaments) published in January 2025 (ISBN / 978-1-80381-886-3)
  • "Lalique Mascots - Catalogue Raisonné (or critical catalogue) The Automotive Radiator Hood, Desk Ornaments, Trophies and Bookends of master glass artisan R. Lalique (including auction realisation prices with market values guide" by G.G. Weiner., i.a.m, o.t.r, c.s.m.a. Bi-lingual with both English and French captions. ISBN 978-1-80381-886-3 (in oversize A3 format).
  • Rene Lalique Biography at RLalique.com.
  • Lalique company, with a biography of the artist from the company web site.
  • article on St Matthew's Millbrook, the "Glass Church".
  • Musée Lalique official website of French museum entirely about Lalique
  • Lalique Museum Doesburg, Dutch museum about René Lalique and contemporaries
  • René Lalique Mascots knowledge base of the Art Deco Lalique bouchons de radiateur (hood ornaments, radiators caps, car mascots)
  • Octane Magazine preview of article in Octane Magazine on René Lalique bouchons de radiateur (hood ornaments, radiators caps, car mascots)