After the death of Rene Lalique in 1945, his famous Lalique glass was no longer made. His son Marc Lalique, who had been active in his father's business, set out on his own path. He made objects using crystal, his preferred medium. He marketed these objects under the name Cristal Lalique. Some of the items designed by Rene Lalique were still sold for a period of time after the war, but they too were made in crystal and marketed as Cristal Lalique. A few pre-war designs are still sold to this day made of crystal, such as the iconic Bacchantes Vase. And it appears that in the period 2009-2010 the modern Lalique company is increasing the number of Rene Lalique designs that are being reproduced in crystal. More information about modern reprodcutions can be found in the Rene Lalique Biography section on Lalique Crystal.
These post war crystal reproductions of RLalique designs have created a bit of an opening for fraud. As they are generally (and sometimes substantially) less valuable than RLalique glass items, unscrupulous individuals can alter the signatures of later pieces to indicate that they are RLalique, pre-war items, when in fact, they are crystal pieces made after World War II, and are not RLalique glass items produced by Rene Lalique. For example, a modern crystal Bacchantes Vase might be found on Ebay in great condition for two to three thousand dollars. But with a new signature and patina, this vase can be sold for maybe $10,000 if represented as RLalique to an unsuspecting buyer. So some care must be taken when acquiring an RLalique item that was also made in crystal after the war.
Following are photos of models where we have seen examples appear with forged RLalique signatures. This photo gallery is not complete, and there are other post war cristal items not pictured that may also present a problem. If you have one of the designs which was produced after WWII that has an RLalique signature, or if you are considering acquiring one of these models with an RLalique signature, care should be taken to properly authenticate the item as RLalique glass. See our Rene Lalique Identification and Authentication Services if you have concerns. Most items whose designs were continued after the war are documented in the R.Lalique Catalogue Raisonne. We have also included a couple of photos of early post war signatures on R. Lalique designs. Notice the block letter acid etched stencil signature, where it appears that nothing more was done than to drop the R from the original stencil, leaving the word France un-centered beneath the word Lalique. This is quite typical of how the first post-war designs were signed, making it a somewhat simple matter for the unscrupulous forger to "restore" the RLalique signature. Finally, when looking at these photos, ignore the color of the model shown, and the color of the applied patina, as the patina can be any color. Also, especially for small items like the squirrel paperweight, it was later made in many colors, so the color pictured here can also be ignored, and care should be taken in acquiring any color of this (and other) designs which were produced in cristal after the war, when signed RLalique. Even in these circumstances, it is important to remember that the signature does not authenticate the item. In fact the reverse is true; the item authenticates the signature.
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