Lalique - Thriving in a Colourful Collecting Market

Lalique - Thriving in a Colourful Collecting Market

Our Leading Lalique Department

Glass by René Lalique (1860-1945) - the epitome of inter-war period glamour - took centre stage once again this February. The London sale of a fine 150 piece private collection of vintage Lalique totalled £566,000 with a selling rate of 92%, confirming our market-leading position.

“It was thrilling to see new clients taking part and being successful buyers in the Lalique in Colour sale” said head of sale Joy McCall. “We welcomed bidders from four continents to the sale (the sale has yet to reach Antarctica!) and there were 14 enthusiastic new buyers who generally each acquired more than one lot. It is a clear indicator to the ongoing appeal of his glass and a market that continues to grow”.

 

LOT 150 | RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | TORTUES VASE, NO. 966 | £30,000 - £50,000 + fees
RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | TORTUES VASE, NO. 966 | Sold for £47,700*

 

View Lot 150 ⇒

 

Offered on 02 February, Lalique in Colour: A Private Collection included good examples of some of the most famous Lalique creations – led at £47,700* by a butterscotch glass version of the Tortues vase designed in 1926 and numbered 966 in the René Lalique catalogue raisonne. “It’s a scarce and popular form in any colour but in butterscotch it was stunning. It is such a pleasure to still be handling pieces that I have not previously encountered during my 26 year career” said Joy.

RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | BELLECOUR VASE, NO. 993 | Sold for £25,200*
RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | BELLECOUR VASE, NO. 993 | Sold for £25,200*

 

View Lot 148 ⇒

 

A version of the 1927 Bellecour (No. 993) vase modelled with four frosted and polished sparrows perched on berries and brambles as they feed from a bowl, brought £25,200* while the cased jade, and white stained Languedoc (No. 1021) cactus leaf vase, designed in 1929 and named after the sun-drenched region in the South of France, sold at £30,200*. 

 

LOT 126 | RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | LANGUEDOC VASE, NO. 1021 | £20,000 - £30,000 + fees
RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | LANGUEDOC VASE, NO. 1021 | Sold for £30,200*

 

View Lot 126 ⇒

 

Also in a vibrant cased jade glass with grey staining was a version of the much-admired-Poissons (No. 925) designed 1921 with swimming fish around the full circumference of the vase. It took £25,200* while another in cased orange glass made £15,120*.

RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | POISSONS VASE, NO. 925 | Sold for £25,200 + fees
RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | POISSONS VASE, NO. 925 | Sold for £25,200*

 

View Lot 136 ⇒

 

The appeal of vibrantly coloured or opalescent glass helps explain why two apparently similar items can be priced quite differently. Lalique made some of his most popular designs in multiple different colours. This collection included no less than seven examples of the Gui vase (No.948) moulded with fruiting mistletoe and six versions of the Formose vase (No.934), modelled with fan-tailed goldfish. The Gui designs sold for sums up to £6,300* for the example in electric blue with the Formose vases topped by a version in cased scarlet red glass at £6,048*.

RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | GUI VASE, NO. 948 | Sold for £6,300*
RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | GUI VASE, NO. 948 | Sold for £6,300*

 

View Lot 109 ⇒

 

“The two Poissons vases were in unusual colour-ways and it was fun to have such a rainbow of Gui and Formose vases” commented Joy. 

Three colour variants versions of the Escargot vase (No. 931), designed 1920, made contrasting sums. That in electric blue took £8,820* but those in butterscotch and a vibrant orange-red, with white stained made £15,120* and £20,160* respectively.

RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | ESCARGOT VASE, NO. 931 | Sold for £20,160*

 RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | ESCARGOT VASE, NO. 931 | Sold for £20,160*

 

View Lot 114 ⇒

 

For René Lalique, glass making represented a second career (he had already proved himself a superb artist jeweller). However, as the fashion for Art Nouveau peaked, Lalique changed medium and began to produce bespoke glass bottles for near neighbour on the Place Vendôme in Paris, François Coty - some of the very first experiments in commercial perfume bottle manufacture.

Perfume bottles remained an important part of his range in the 1920s. This collection included a clear, frosted and sepia stained bottle designed 1927 to mark the 60th anniversary of a collection of poems published by Frédéric Mistral in 1867. Applied with a paper label printed Calendal Molinard Jeune Grasse Paris, it is thought this bottle never went in to general production. It made £10,080*.

RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | CALENDAL SCENT BOTTLE, MOLINARD - 1 | Sold for £10,080*
RENÉ LALIQUE (FRENCH 1860-1945) | CALENDAL SCENT BOTTLE, MOLINARD - 1 | Sold for £10,080*

 

View Lot 86 ⇒

 

A rare clear, frosted and blue stained bottle from 1920, one of several designs produced by Lalique for Volnay’s Ambre de Siam scent, sold for £6,552* while a version of the famous ‘skyscaper’ style bottle designed in 1929 sold for £4,536*. Remarkably, this bottle in clear, frosted and black enamelled glass, came with it original presentation box.

Our five specialist Lalique sales since April 2021, have raised over £2.5m with prices an average of 25% above estimate. From a collection of 150 Lalique perfume bottles (February 2022) to a complete collection of the 31 different Lalique car mascots (April 2022), our Design department now sells more vintage Lalique glass than any other auction house.

“This sale certainly brought cheer to a winter February and we are now working on the specialist Lalique sale to be held on 27 April in the Mall Galleries in London” said Joy.

 


 

Previous Auction Information

 

LALIQUE IN COLOUR: A PRIVATE COLLECTION

02 February 2023 | Live Online | London

 

View the auction results ⇒

 

 


 

Forthcoming Auction Information

 

LALIQUE 

27 April 2023  | Live in London & Online

 

Consignments invited until 03 March 2023.

 

Consign Now ⇒

 

 


 

 

The Lalique Department

 

Lyon & Turnbull’s Design Department is delighted to have introduced Lalique as a new biannual sale category in April 2021. No other auction house offers specialist sales devoted entirely to the work of René Lalique.

Senior Specialist, Joy McCall heads these sales as she previously did at Christie’s, London for many years. She has over 25 years of experience selling Lalique and brings to the process her knowledge and expertise together with a personal passion for the subject.

 

Learn more ⇒

 


 

SPEAK TO A SPECIALIST

 

JOY MCCALL

 

JOY MCCALL 

0207 930 9115

joy.mccall@lyonandturnbull.com

 

  

 

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