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Im Kinsky Auction House Reports They Sold The Fake Ecailles Vase!
We recall the words of the great American showman P. T. Barnham**
“There’s A Sucker Born Every Minute And Two To Take Him”

July 8th, 2021

Im Kinsky auction house is reporting that they sold the René Lalique Vase Ecailles Fake Ecailles Vase that was Lot 627 on July 6th, 2021 for a hammer price of €5000 as shown in the 2nd and 3rd screen shots below. Assuming we deciphered their commissions page properly, the all-in total price is in the low to mid 6000 euros range. The approximate dollar equivalent would be in the low to mid 7000 dollars range. But whatever the exact final price, it’s a scandal.

Our initial post on this vase offering can be found at: Im Kinsky Auction House In Vienna Offers A Fake Ecailles Vase as René Lalique. In that post you’ll see the information documenting the fake that we sent to the email address listed for the Im Kinsky guys pictured below.

Im Kinsky Auction House Vienna CEO And Equity Partners

Fake Ecailles Vase Sale Report Page On Website Of Im Kinsky Auction House Vienna For July 6, 2021

Sale Report Page On Invaluable For Fake Ecailles Vase At Im Kinsky Auction House Vienna July 6, 2021

And as usual, if anyone out there in R. Lalique Land or anywhere else thinks we have anything wrong in this post, please let us know by leaving a comment here. We will promptly and cheerfully make any necessary corrections.

** P.T. Barnum: The quote in the title of this post is attributed to P.T. Barnum. Barnum was a famed American businessman, philanthropist, author, publisher, politician, and showman. He said of the latter “I am a showman by profession … and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me”. His most famous accomplishment was the founding of the Barnum & Bailey Circus (The Greatest Show On Earth) when he was 60 years old in 1870. Barnham died in 1891 but the show went on. In 1907 the circus was sold to the Ringling brothers and the show went on. In 1919 it was merged with the Ringling brothers’ circus and the show went on. The show finally ended its nearly 150-year run in 2017 with the closure of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Im Kinsky Auction House In Vienna Offers A Fake Ecailles Vase as René Lalique On July 6th, 2021

June 29th, 2021

Fake Ecailles Vase At Im Kinsky Vienna Austria Falsely Advertised As René LaliqueAuthentic Ecailles Vase by René Lalique Pictured on Page 51 Of The Book The Glass Of Lalique By Christopher Van PercyAnother fake Ecailles Vase has appeared, this time in Vienna at the auction house Im Kinsky.

The blue vase pictured to the left is being offered as Lot No. 627 in the Im Kinsky July 6th, 2021 auction and it carries the Est: €2000 – €4000.

Here is a link to see the listing on Invaluable for that Fake Ecailles Vase.

Humorously in Im Kinsky’s lot description for the fake, they point to Page 51 in the 1977 Christopher Vane Percy book The Glass Of Lalique as a reference for their fake vase. We show you the Percy vase on the right.

Of course Percy has an authentic Ecailles in his book as you can see here. So there is no way the design on it matches the fake at Im Kinsky.

Just below we have also included a photo of the “Source Of The Problem Vase”. The pictured vase is a model by an unknown maker. Someone got their hands on one* of those models and removed the top rim and part of the neck and put a forged signature on the underside to create the fake Ecailles Vase above. Obviously the original designer/maker of the “Source Of The Problem Vase” was not trying to make a copy or deceive anyone. It’s the later alterations that create the problem. And then of course, once the fake vase shows up on Im Kinsky’s doorstep, they inexplicably offer it as René Lalique Vase “Ecailles” after at a minimum having seen the Percy photo.

Loose Copy With Rim Of Ecailles Vase - This Is The Source Of The Problem VaseWhen we saw the fake being offered we sent Im Kinsky a detailed email on June 21st to their office@imkinsky.com email address with an explanation about the vase, directing them to the various reference places and evidence on the website.

Their website has the office@imkinsky.com email address as the contact for the 2 people pictured under the heading “CEO and Equity Partners”. We figured we’d go right to the top!

Following is the text of that email.

Note: We converted the three information links in the email for purposes of this article to clickable links for the convenience of our readers, and we corrected typos:

Hello. In regard to Lot 627 July 6th – René Lalique Vase “Ecailles”, the vase in your photo (attached to this reply) is a fake. It’s not R. Lalique and it does not match the reference you have given in your lot description for the photo in the Percy book. Any signature on (the) vase in Lot 627 for R. Lalique is a forgery.

We commend our article on this subject to you:

Ecailles Vase Copies On The Loose

And we recommend you refer to the model page on the website for the Ecailles Vase to see many legitimate examples of this vase and see what authentic Ecailles Vases look like:

Ecailles Vases

You can also see the following page that has several of the same fakes as yours in different colors:

Ecailles Vase Close Calls

If you have any doubts after reviewing the article and the other pages, we strongly recommend you consult a local expert with knowledge of R. Lalique that you are familiar with.

We will look forward to hearing from you, and if you have any questions, we would be happy to answer them if we can.

Best Regards,

Greg

Your description:
Description: René Lalique Vase “Ecailles” blue opalglass, satin-coated; carved signature on the bottom: “R. Lalique France N: 1080” h. 25.3 cm Christopher Vane Percy, René Lalique. Das Glas, Würzburg 1981, p. 51


Greg Zimmerman

RLalique.com

Free R. Lalique Authentications For Auction Houses

Free Worldwide R. Lalique Auction Listings For Auction Houses

END OF EMAIL

Not having heard back from the auction house after a few days, on June 24th we forwarded the same email to a person listed on their website as an Expert for Art Nouveau & Design, and to another person listed on their website as an Expert Assistant for Art Nouveau & Design. That area of Expertise just seemed to be the closest to R. Lalique on the list of all the many experts and areas of expertise they advertise they have at Im Kinsky. And we wanted to try to make sure the email got into the right hands.

However as of June 29th, 2021, a full week from our first email, we have not heard back from anyone at Im Kinsky and the vase remains on-offer in their auction catalogues with the false claim of René Lalique Vase “Ecailles” for the auction that is now only a week away. As a result we decided to go ahead and publish this article so that interested parties and anyone doing research in the future may be aware that the vase in Lot 627 on July 6th, 2021 at Im Kimsky is in fact NOT a René Lalique Vase “Ecailles”. It is an unrelated vase that was purposefully altered by a person or persons unknown who also added a phony signature to the vase. That phony signature includes the René Lalique & Cie model number for a real Ecailles Vase. The addition of that forged model number eliminates any doubt that the alterations were all done to facilitate the false and ridiculous claim (Grandma would say “outlandish” claim) that the vase is an authentic R. Lalique Ecailles Vase.

You may have heard the expression: “You can write the word dog on the side of a cat, but that won’t make the cat bark”. Hopefully all the various relevant experts at Im Kinsky (whoever they may be) will realize there is no barking going on here. But if they do hear the barking, and if they see their blue fake as identical to the Percy vase, someone might want to look into group discount rates at local Vienna audiologists and optometrists to schedule ear and eye checks.

As usual, we emphasize that what the seller or auction house knows or doesn’t know, did or didn’t do, thought or didn’t think, and all that kind of stuff, is not really important to you as a buyer when building your collection. The only thing is for you as a collector to be sufficiently knowledgeable and careful to avoid nightmare items such as this one and get the right stuff.

UPDATE July 8, 2021: Im Kinsky scandalously went ahead and sold the fake vase at their July 6th, 2021 sale. It made a hammer of €5000. See our succinct Im Kinsky Sold The Fake Ecailles Report detailing their disappointing action. END OF UPDATE

And also as usual, if anyone out there in R. Lalique Land or anywhere else thinks we have anything wrong in this story, please let us know by posting a comment here. We will promptly and cheerfully make any necessary corrections.

*It’s possible that they got their hands on two of the same color of this model. Time will tell.

Ebay’s Hardweejun Rides Again

March 27th, 2021

It can be a dangerous world out there for online purchasers of R. Lalique. Our experience is that most people are honest, but there are always a few rotten apples to be avoided.

All the way back in in 2014 we wrote an article titled: Pierre Leblache – Hardweejun On Ebay – Buyer Beware. And we updated it a couple of times over the years.

But the hits just keep coming* and we decided it’s time to refresh and publicize part of the litany of false statements and false claims that characterize so many of his sales efforts with regard to various “R. Lalique” items. Keep in mind just as bank robbers don’t rob every bank they drive by, every single listing by Hardweejun may not contain false representations about the item he’s selling. But rest assured there is plenty of material out there.

Basically this guy just makes stuff up and in an apparent attempt to appear erudite tells longwinded stories about history that have so many fantasy or undocumented aspects we don’t have the time to catalogue the whole mess. All of this of course is to make a few dollars off some uninformed buyer of an “R. Lalique” item in various online sales listings, many of which are rife** with false representations. And he’s doing all this to get a couple of hundred bucks. We don’t know what his hourly rate is, but with the time involved in writing up some of this nonsense, doing the photos, and then creating the Ebay listing it seems like a low-return scam. Certainly a lot less than those 30 pieces of silver you’ve heard tell about.

Let’s get right to a couple specific examples:

Rene Lalique 1924: First Blue Bottle for Worth’s “Dans La Nuit” 5 1/2″. Signed. Updated 7-4-21 to delete link to Ebay listing that no longer works.

So obviousy what he is selling is post-war (the Utts say 1985) modern copy (with changes you might notice in the picture), of what was originally an R. Lalique design. The bottle is marked R. Lalique CREATION to the underside. We don’t even know who Worth had make it for them. Oh, and there is the metal neck collar that even though not red, would normally trigger a red alert.

Keeping the preceding in mind about what he is actually selling, let’s review some of his representations:

1. An original from between 1924 and 1930. (Our Note: An original from the around the 1980’s and transported back in time by the seller)

2. It is also the first (only?) time that Lalique sculpted into the bottle’s face the words “EAU DE TOILETTE” (Our Note: Lalique was long dead before anything was “sculpted” into this bottle)

3. signed R LALIQUE underneath (Our Note: Oops, left out that CREATION word that is so blurry in his photo if you don’t know what it says before looking, you likely can’t make it out. That blurry picture was a nice touch as if the camera suddenly stopped working properly. In certain circles they call this kind of activity – the specific omission and the blur – “consciousness of guilt”***. R. LALIQUE CREATION is the modern glassmaker giving credit to Rene Lalique as the original designer.)

4. Original/Reproduction: Original (Our Note: no comment required)

5. You can buy it with confidence (Our Note: No need to send in the clowns****, everybody’s already laughing)

We know Hardweejun follows and reads the website, because he quotes from it and refers to it in various of his listings. He also says he is an over 20 year collector of R. Lalique.

All of the model pages on the site for the dark blue round flask form R. Lalique Perfume Bottles for Worth state the following:
Also Note: Any bottle with the molded word CREATION on the underside is a post-war copy.
Also Note: Examples with metal coated necks and/or rims will also be post-war copies.

You can see all those models at Rene Lalique’s Worth Perfume Bottles.

If anyone thinks any of the numbered statements from the listing accurately reflects what is true about this bottle, please leave a comment here and we will promptly and cheerfully make corrections of any errors. And for this entire article, if anyone thinks we have anything wrong…. cheerful corrections will be made if we screwed something up.

Post Publication Update: The bottle did not sell, but has been re-listed. Two points to make, one old, one new. The old point: Pierre makes the following statement/claim in the old and new listings: This “Dans la Nuit” bottle is repertoried and photographed in the large Marcilhac book, the unofficial; “Lalique Bible” on page 951 of the French 2010 edition under reference “Worth 2″ (photo 8). The signature, R LALIQUE, is under the base (photo 7).” The first sentence is just made-up. There is no Dans La Nuit bottle pictured where he says, that has a silvered neck or the phrase R. LALIQUE CREATION on the underside. That’s because Rene Lalique did not design or produce a silver necked “CREATION” bottle or ANY “CREATION” bottle for Worth. So obviously “This” bottle is not repertoried or photographed anywhere in the entire book he cites. The 2nd point is humorous. Apparently you can no longer buy the bottle with confidence. The phrase “You can buy it with confidence” has been removed from the end of the description in the re-listing. End of Update.

And in case you thought maybe the above listing was just a one-off error of some kind totally filled with good intentions, check out this gem:

Rene Lalique 1929: Smallest Bottle (Version 3) for Worth’s “Je Reviens” 3″. Updated 7-4-21 to delete link to Ebay listing that no longer works.

False statement: Here is one from around 1929 (Our Note: The stopper did not exist in 1929)
False statement: Original or Reproduction: Original (Our Note: Ditto)
False statement – This combines a false statement with a ridiculous story: Also, and although this was the launching year (Our note – he is referring to 1929), he insisted that Lalique develop a softer material for the stopper as he feared that the rare blue marble envisioned would prove too expensive. This was born the bakelite stopper, one of the World’s first plastics 15 years before but sufficiently down in price to be affordable while looking just as good and also achievable in any color, which had not been possible before. (Our Note: Knowing the stopper on this bottle did not exist in 1929, this story is made-up out of whole cloth*****. The Ebay listing says the item location is New York, but it’s more likely to ship from Fantasy Island******.)

The fact that Pierre did not show a picture of the signature or mention anywhere in the listing what the signature says, we’d bet our bottom dollar******* it’s some version of the post-war modern Lalique France signature. Consciousness of Guilt Rides Again! Post Publication Update: The Je Reviens bottle sold for $60. All this for $60 … less Ebay commissions? Really? End of Update.

Be careful out there!! But remember, it’s not what the seller says or doesn’t say. It’s what you know. The more you know the better off you are and the better off you will be in building your R. Lalique collection.

* Hits just keep on coming: We are using this expression in the sarcastic sense, in the same way it was used by Tom Cruise in the movie A Few Good Men. When he was informed by his co-star whom he seriously disliked and had no control over: “I’m going to Cuba with you tomorrow”, he replied “And the hits just keep on coming”.

** Rife means an abundance of something usually undesirable or harmful.

*** Consciousness of Guilt is a concept in the U.S. court system where inferences can be drawn from a person’s own actions. We are using the phrase here to make the point that he did things that had the effect of hiding or obscuring accurate and relevant information that would have contradicted the false statements in the listings.

**** Send in the clowns: In the 19th and 20th centuries when circuses were a huge entertainment spectacle in many parts of the world, whenever tragedy struck during a performance (like the high wire guy fell off the wire – splat), the management would give the order “Send in the clowns!” to distract the audience and get the laughing going.

***** Made-up out of whole cloth: From https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ “To fabricate something entirely fictional or utterly false and not based on reality at all.” And from “https://grammarist.com/idiom/out-of-whole-cloth/ “Out of whole cloth describes something that is untrue and has no grounding in the facts.” Our Note: You also hear it as “cut from whole cloth”.

****** Fantasy Island: The setting for the late 70’s/early 80’s TV fantasy show starring Ricardo Montalbán and Hervé Villechaize.

******* Bottom dollar is your last dollar.

Coty Galeries Lafayette La Feuillaison Perfume Bottle Advertised as Rene Lalique

March 26th, 2021

Rare Rene Lalique Galeries Lafayette La Feuillaison Perfume Bottle – 82694 Updated 7-4-21 to delete link to Ebay listing that no longer works.

You know when you see a listing like the one at the above link; the seller usually has some knowledge on some level. After all the bottle is not signed for Rene Lalique, nothing on the bottle or label would point you to Rene Lalique, and there is no authoritative documentation of any kind that would back-up the false claim that Rene Lalique had anything to do with this bottle. Yet the seller proudly claims out of thin air* “…..made for Galeries Lafayette by Rene Lalique.” Starting off the listing title with the word “Rare” is just icing on the claim cake.

Coty Perfume Bottle Labeled For Galeries Lafayette La Feuillaison UnsignedSure enough when questioned, the seller pointed to the Utts’ groundbreaking 1990 book Lalique Perfume Bottles as the source of the information to back up the Rene Lalique claim, including a specific page number that made this an R. Lalique bottle.

Answer
“We found it on Lalique Perfume Bottles by Mary Lou and Glenn Utt page 137 and also if you google it you’ll find some people who have their own sites specializing on Lalique bottles, no one has it and or are looking for it.”

Of course the Utts’ book doesn’t say this bottle is R. Lalique. It’s a pretty good looking bottle that has value on its own, but it’s obviously not R. Lalique. The bottle in the listing is nowhere to be found in the Utts’ book. However, the actual R. Lalique Perfume Bottle for Galeries Lafayette La Feuillaison** is pictured and described on Page 24 of their book with the original label still in place.

Here’s a link to an actual R. Lalique La Feuillaison Perfume Bottle on the website that is the same as the bottle documented in the Utts’ book.

Obviously the Ebay bottle is just an unsigned*** bottle Coty supplied to the store with the perfume.**** The bottle has nothing to do with Rene Lalique. The EBay seller is stumptownusa.

Post Publication Update: At the time we posted this article, the seller had one bid at the starting price of $298. That bid was revoked. When the listing expired the seller removed the “Rare Rene Lalique” start of the title, and also removed “by Rene Lalique” from the description, and re-listed the bottle. End Of Update.

*Out of thin air from https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/out+of+thin+air “Out of nowhere; out of nothing.” And also “Auster spins stories out of thin air.” Our Note: The opposite meaning is also in use today as in “vanished into thin air”. The first known use of the phrase “into thin air” and what got the whole thin air thing started was in 1610 in the Shakespeare play The Tempest. There we hear Prosepro say: “These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve”. Our note: A true thought to keep in mind as you decide how you spend your short time in this world.

**There is a 2nd R. Lalique bottle that was used for La Feuillaison eau de toilette.

***Unsigned: We regularly advise typical collectors never to purchase any unsigned piece. Never Ever, Never Never.

****We are not Coty experts. Coty was known to supply bottles and perfume to Galeries Lafayette (and other stores) and La Feuillaison was a Coty fragrance. It was a sizable part of Coty’s business to anonymously supply complete presentations labeled for stores.

Ecailles Vase Copies On The Loose!

April 17th, 2020

The article was published on April 17, 2020. It was updated on June 25, 2021. See the end of the article for that update.

Ecailles is the French word for scales. What could be fishy about that, right? Let’s see what happens.

Ecailles is a great looking and reasonably hard to find vase. Its claim to fame is that it’s giving Biskra and Davos Vases a run for the money in the “Worldwide R. Lalique Rare Vase Colors Competition”. Ok, there’s no real competition like that. But it makes sense they are a colorful trio because Biskra, Davos, and Ecailles were all created early in the Great Depression in the same 30-day period during the spring of 1932. Apparently Lalique picked that time period to liven up the new offerings with new colors.

Moving along, these first two photos are of a blue Ecailles Vase that sold at Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville New Jersey on September 22, 2017 as Lot No. 26. What a great looking vase. It sold for $6500 all-in.

  • Rene Lalique Ecailles Vase In Blue Glass Side View

    Rene Lalique Ecailles Vase In Blue Glass View From Slightly Above

  • This 2nd pair of photos is of a vase that sold as an Ecailles Vase at Heritage Auctions in Dallas Texas on November 23, 2015 as Lot No. 60224. This vase sold for $11,875 all-in. Please go ahead and compare the Rago Ecailles above to the Heritage vase below. And if you decide to check further and do some research, obviously only the Rago vase above is going to match the literature and documentation for Ecailles.

  • Ecailles Vase Loose Copy In Blue Glass Side View

    Ecailles Vase Loose Copy In Blue Glass View From Slightly Above

  • Finally, this 3rd pair of photos is of an unsigned vase by an unknown maker. Let’s call this the “source of the problem vase”. It fills in all the blanks. You can imagine what a haircut might make it look like, or you can just scroll back up to the Heritage vase.

    Ecailles Vase Loose Copy With Rim In Blue Glass Side View

    Ecailles Vase Loose Copy With Rim In Blue Glass View From Slightly Above

  • You can see a few more examples of the copy in other colors on the Copies and Close Calls page at Ecailles Copies.

    Obviously the “source of the problem vase” was not originally made with the intention to deceive anyone. It’s only the later alteration of the vase, and/or the addition of a forged signature, and/or just the representation that it’s R. Lalique, that make it problematic. Whoever created this vase didn’t include some spurious signature on the underside, and they obviously did not intend to make an exact copy.

    As usual, we emphasize that what the seller knew or didn’t know, did or didn’t do, thought or didn’t think, and all that kind of stuff, is not really important to you as a buyer when building your collection. The only thing is for you as a collector to be sufficiently knowledgeable and careful to avoid nightmares and get the right stuff.

    And also as usual, if anyone out there in R. Lalique Land thinks we have anything wrong, please let us know by posting a comment here. We will promptly and cheerfully make any necessary corrections.

    Article Update: June 25/July 5, 2021 – The listing for the Ecailles Vase vanished from the Heritage website at some point after we first published this article. That’s not really a bad thing because fakers can use that auction listing as a reference and evidence that their fake vase is real when trying to pass it off on somebody. On the other hand, having the evidence of the original listing in the proper context such as this article is important as well. So we have included a screen shot below. Also, now that you know how this fake was created, it’s worth pointing out at the bottom of the screenshot is the Condition Report’s hilarious statement of fact: … “neck has been chamfered slightly”.

    Ecailles Vase Loose Copy Heritage Auction Listing Showing Sold That Since Vanished From Heritage Website

  • The Czech Ring Box Is Outed – Not R. Lalique Boutons De Fleur

    June 27th, 2019

    Curt Schlevogt Czechoslovakian Glass Ingrid Catalogue Picture of Two Ring Boxes and Two Rings

    First, a little bit of background on what was a long wait.

    Curt Schlevogt Czechoslovakian Glass Ingrid Ring Box With Lid Off title=

    Here at World Headquarters, we have a list. In the course of things, we can’t chase everything down in an instant, so as questions arise or specific stuff pops up that might cause a raised eyebrow with all the people that help out with the site, some stuff just gets put on the list. And we wait.

    Sometimes the wait is a few weeks or a few months. Sometimes it’s just a phone call or can take a few years. Sometimes it’s longer. For just one small example, in 2008 we wrote an article about an R. Lalique Fake “Seal” that had been sold to a collector. We were pretty sure there was no such authentic seal :), but we didn’t know exactly what it really was. The purchase was from a “reputable” regular dealer in R. Lalique. It wasn’t until 2017 that we were able to definitively identify the “seal” as a stopper to a specific perfume bottle made by an American glass company when one of the great volunteers that help out on the site came across the bottle. 9 years later, what the heck.

    Curt Schlevogt Czechoslovakian Glass Ingrid Ring Box And An R. Lalique Feuilles Menu Holder And A Crystal Lalique Base To An Oil And Vinegar Set Selling Together in One Auction LotAnyway, for why we are rambling, back around 2011 a brown patinated two-part egg shaped flower motif Ring Box sporting a double row of facets appeared in the literature as R. Lalique. And it was also appearing at well known auction houses. And crazy enough, the money was pretty big. Reports we received put it selling with a ring in 2011 at €15,000 hammer, another example came in 2012 with sepia patina and a ring for €9500, and one with a brown patina and a ring went all-in in 2014 for about $20,000.

    All the while, we had never had our hands on one of these boxes, but we weren’t going to throw away 5 figures to prove ourselves right. And with those prices, actual reputable sellers, and the literature, we decided to keep an open mind (no matter how slightly) that we might be mistaken, even though it’s true that if you listened closely enough when seeing a photo, you could hear the box whispering “Czech, Czech, Czech”. So we waited.

    Opportunity Knocks!

    Then back in April 2019 at a small online house sale in Columbus Ohio, appears a mixed lot with 3 items: A modern base to an oil & vinegar set, an R. Lalique Feuilles Menu Holder, and there on the left of the photo was a hazy shaped depiction of THE ring box. It was faintly whispering. Our only question was how the auction knew to describe it as “Ingrid Crystal”.

    Not being one of those auctions with stuff like a live auctioneer or live bidding, and with no way to get questions answered, we waited. In the end our winning bid was $45 plus shipping across country, around $65 all-in! Yippee! And in due course the goods appeared in the daily shuffle of deliveries piling up inside the main entrance.

    Curt Schlevogt Czechoslovakian Glass Ingrid Ring Box Signature Under Heavy LightOther new ground was broken with this purchase, because it’s a pretty hard rule with auctions of R. Lalique that if we are planning on bidding on something R. Lalique at auction for ourselves or on behalf of anyone else, we list that auction on the website and compete with everybody else. And in this case, the Feuilles Menu holder was surely an authentic piece of R. Lalique. But given our altruistic* intent on this one, not wanting to throw away thousands of dollars on a Czech box, and wanting to keep another example of this thing out of circulation, we were not exactly quick in listing it on the site.

    In due time the delivery was un-packed, and it took several minutes with just the right light to see the answer to the Ingrid I.D. The bottom was signed INGRID Czecho-Slovakia as shown in the photo here. After that it was easy to find the right documentation through the Czech glass links you can find in the Sources of Fakes section of the website. And we found many examples of the same signature with the same issue of getting the light just right and at the right angle on other Ingrid items. We’ve included 2 photos of the underside of one of the ubiquitous green malachite looking perfume bottles that appeared recently at auction. The two green photos shown here are of the same underside of the same bottle. One looks blank; the other has the right lighting and angle of photo to reveal the signature.

    The other thing that everybody ignored about this box was the most obvious. Can you imagine walking into the Lalique shop in Paris in the 1932 and seeing a double faceted brown patinated box holding a green or blue ring of entirely different design? That incongruous presentation would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

    Curt Schlevogt Czechoslovakian Glass Ingrid Perfume Bottle Underside Without Heavy Light Looks Like No SignatureAnd did you notice in the Ingrid catalogue photo shown above that in-between the two ring boxes are two rings? Buckle up if you paid 5 figures for an unsigned or suspiciously signed ring that looks just like one of those! There may be turbulence ahead. See the Fleurs-2 and Fleurs-3 Rings.******

    You can see all the previously mentioned sales on the Czech Ingrid Bouton De Fleur model page we’ve left up in the Box Category of the R. Lalique Catalogue so interested persons can find and properly identify their box. Obviously some are floating about with R. Lalique signatures or missing Ingrid signatures. And anyone who insists this is an R. Lalique Box, we will make you a real cheap deal compared to those auction prices on the one we have 🙂 … NOT!

    Also, this is probably a good time to mention for the umpteenth** time that typical collectors should avoid unsigned and undocumented pieces. There is an amazing selection of great R. Lalique items out there. Over 99% of those pieces are properly signed and fully documented. What’s the point? And collectors should trust their instincts. If it feels like a fish, swims like a fish, looks like a fish, and smells like a fish ……………. something may be fishy***.

    Curt Schlevogt Czechoslovakian Glass Ingrid Perfume Bottle Underside With Heavy Light Signature AppearsAnother point to keep in mind. The Ingrid line of Czech glass was not made with the intent to deceive anyone. The Czechs have a rich and centuries old glassmaking tradition. A few designers did jump on the emerging 20th century consumer glass bandwagon with pieces in the Lalique style. But the great early designers in this area such as Heinrich Hoffmann and Curt Schlevogt****  had zero reason to deceive anyone. Schlevogt, the creator of the Ingrid pieces had the Ingrid signature proudly placed on the box we bought. It’s only the later representation that this model is R. Lalique, and/or the removal of the Ingrid signature and/or the addition of a phony R. Lalique signature, that makes one of these boxes problematic in the R. Lalique marketplace. They are less valuable but not problematic at all in the proper context.

    And lest we forget, there is a 2nd blue glass Boutons De Fleur Box for which we have never seen a scintilla of documentation. It’s a bit more convincing than this Czech box (not a high hurdle really), it has a much cleaner yet more detailed design, and there is a ring that matches it in both color and decoration. But it’s un-documented nonetheless. Who knows what future house sales in America’s heartland may uncover!

    And as is our MO*****, if anyone out there thinks we got anything wrong in this article, we will be happy to hear from you, and we will promptly and cheerfully correct any factual inaccuracies. So please no complaints about run-on sentences, our mangling of the English language, made-up words, or any of the numerous grammatical errors. To paraphrase Dragnet’s Joe Friday “Just the facts ma’am.”

    *Altruistic means to show an unselfish concern for others ………as we break our elbows patting ourselves on the back.

    **Umteenth or Umpteenth is a real word! It’s the last in a never-ending or indefinitely long series or repetition. Think about a parent saying to their kid: “This is the umpteenth time I’ve told you to straighten-up your room.”

    ***Something is fishy: An expression that can be traced to before the Civil War. It has come to mean that something is suspicious or not right. Think of a good-looking fish at the market that when you get close enough and pick it up you find it’s really slimy or slippery (a word that has its own alternate related meaning) and has started to smell.

    ****Curt Schlevogt worked for Hoffmann and in 1928 married Hoffmann’s daughter Charlotte. Charlotte died in childbirth giving birth to their daughter Ingrid, after whom his first collection of glass (introduced and exhibited in 1934) was named.

    *****MO (pronounced by saying the names of letters “Em Oh”) is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase Modus Operandi. It’s the typical mode or method of operation; how one usually does things. In the current culture, “this is how we roll” would be a comparable expression.

    ******Fleurs-2 and Fluers-3 Rings: These 2 links were added in September 2019.

    Hot On The Heels Of The Pink Wonder: A Blue Acanthes Vase Look-Alike Does Ebay

    November 26th, 2017

    Acanthes Vase In Blue Glass Not Matching Authentic Examples Sold On Ebay For $4550

    Following up on the Pink Acanthes story from June, appearing on Ebay this month was a blue glass Acanthes vase look-alike that had many of the warning signs. And while questionable items appear on EBay all the time, what got our attention with this particular vase is not just that it sold for $4550 to some really lucky buyer, but that it doesn’t appear to be in the same mold as the pinko vase you’ve heard tell about. Sure they both have unfinished wrong necks. They both have the apparently low mold quality to the design. They both don’t match the literature for authentic pieces, and they both lack the great molded signature you like to see on an authentic Acanthes.

    Acanthes Vase In Blue Glass Signature Not Matching Authentic Examples Sold On Ebay For $4550

    But where so many of these propositions fall flattest, is how the base is finished. In the great falling flat contest, the blue one seen here takes the prize. A right minded *** person might think that if all the other signals were missed, that all by itself the bottom of this vase should have the lucky buyer singing the blues.

    Obviously opinions vary since it’s hard to imagine bidders chasing the vase up over $4000 if they didn’t believe the vase was an authentic R. Lalique vase. So take a look and judge for yourself if this looks like what you’d expect from the underside of an authentic R. Lalique Acanthes Vase or any R. Lalique Vase.

    And if you don’t know enough to decide for yourself, make it a point to see and handle as much R. Lalique as you can. Get educated and get independent advice on your purchases.

    Nobody wants to be a penguin, right?

    One other note about the Ebay listing. The seller never said it was an R. Lalique Acanthes Vase. What the seller did do was title the listing: “R Lalique France signed numbered blue colored glass Art Deco vase”. We’ve had sellers including auction houses say with a straight face that all they meant was it was signed as stated, not that it was actually what the signature said. Two words come to mind when hearing that explanation when a seller has left their own purposefully created inference out there without contradiction: Sharp Practice ****.

    Of course on Ebay in the title to your listings: “Only mention the brand name of the manufacturer that actually produced your item …” ***** Good luck with that in this instance!

    And this is a good time to repeat our oft pontificated advice: It doesn’t matter what the motive or knowledge of the seller was. It only matters what you know. Maybe the seller just meant to say it was signed as stated. Your job as a collector is to know what’s right and wrong and not rely on the seller.

    Acanthes Vase In Blue Glass Not Matching Authentic Examples Sold On Ebay For $4550

    ** Hot on the heels is a phrase that is said to have originated with hunting, capturing the reality of the living warm creature with all living things getting hotter as the pursuers get closer to the pursued. It’s almost the opposite of “the trail went cold” for the same reason. So here it’s used to say that the blue came right after the pink. In this instance the phrase “Hard on the heels of ..” would also be appropriate.

    *** A right-minded person is in a good mental state… sane, rational, stuff like that.

    **** A sharp practice is a crafty or deceitful dealing.

    ***** Here is an excerpt from the Ebay Page headed “Creating legally compliant listings” :

    “Search manipulation (using unrelated brands in a listing title in order to attract people searching for those items) is another misuse of brands that isn’t allowed on eBay. Example: If you were listing an Acme TV for sale, you can’t mention other television manufacturers in your title simply to attract buyers looking for those items. This kind of search manipulation isn’t allowed on eBay. Only mention the brand name of the manufacturer that actually produced your item and don’t misrepresent your relationship with that manufacturer”

    The Czech Forest Vase – A Common R. Lalique Forgery

    October 11th, 2017

    The Czech Forest Vase is one of the most often seen vases with a forged R. Lalique Signature. But in last week’s mail came an inquiry from a purchaser who had bought the vase on hope alone without even the phony signature in place. The correspondence speaks for itself. **

    Czech Forest Vase Sold As R. LaliqueDear Madam or Sir,
    I bought this vase on a budget resolution and I am not sure if this is a
    real vase from R. Lalique.
    It would be great if you can help me out.
    The vase has no signature or a mark at the bottom. The weight is 3267 Grams.
    On the floor of the vase there are strong traces of use.
    I was searching your website and I did find this vase. The model looks
    like a fake one, but the color is different.
    I am a collector and it would be great if you could tell me more about it.
    Attached you will find some pictures of the vase.

    Thank you in advance for your effort.

    Kind regards from Stuttgart,
    Hopeful Buyer

    Our reply:

    Hello Hopeful Buyer. Thanks for contacting us.

    The vase in your photos (1 is attached to this reply) is a Czech forest vase.

    You can see it in a Czech glass catalogue at this link in the Sources of Fakes section of the website:

    Czech Glass Catalogue

    Also here is an Ebay search for the phrase Czech Forest Vase where you can see some for sale:

    Czech Forest Vases For Sale On Ebay

    And another Ebay search to see some that actually sold:

    Sold Czech Forest Vases On Ebay

    General Rule: Do not buy any piece of “R. Lalique” that is not signed and documented.

    Best Regards,

    RLalique.com

    And the buyer’s follow-up:

    Czech Forest Vase Shown From Above Sold As R. Lalique
    Dear RLalique.com,
    Thank you for your Mail. You have a great website!
    The next time I will be more careful.
    Kind regards
    Hopeful Buyer

    Obviously the buyer should have checked (there is a bad pun in there somewhere) the website before the purchase and not after 🙂

    ** The emails were cleaned up slightly to remove personal info, compact the content, and correct errors/typos etc.

    Meteor Perfume Bottle Made By Coty – Not R. Lalique!

    August 5th, 2017

    Meteor Perfume Bottle Made By Coty Circa 1949 Signed Coty France In The Mold On The UndersideIn 1949, Coty (no Francois, he was dead in 1934) introduced the fragrance Meteor. It was presented in a bottle made in its own glassworks, the Coty Glassworks. All the bottles we’ve seen, some with glass disk shaped stoppers, others with some kind of plastic or Bakelite caps or stoppers, are all signed Coty France. That makes sense; they were made by Coty in France. Duh.

    Nowhere is there any R. Lalique signature on any of items in the perfume’s presentation for the obvious reasons, including the absence of Rene Lalique in 1949 owing to his death 4 years earlier.

    This all brings us to the reason for this article. A regular seller of R. Lalique on Ebay, screen name georgina8648, with an Ebay store named “Lalique Originals”, has for sale as we speak, a 1949 (or later) Meteor Perfume Bottle at the following link advertised thusly (the whole reason for this article was not to work in the word “thusly”):
    UPDATE 1 of 2 – August 9, 2017: The seller has changed the listing. See a link to the original listing at the end of this article. END OF UPDATE 1 of 2

    That ridiculous claim of R. Laliqueism (yea, we just made that word up, and we might have made up thusly also, someone should check) is further buttressed in the item description with the following nonsense:

    “The box is tatty** but reasonably intact for its 100 years.”

    Maybe if the marbled plasticky (and there we go again) cap was pink, these claims would gain some credence in certain highfalutin*** circles. But the cap is not pink, so there will be no moral support from any fellow dealers, pinkos, or other really smart people.

    But maybe there should be, because when you look at the photos of the bottle in the plastic base with the wonderful cap, and that great Coty France molded signature on the underside, the whole thing just screams R. Lalique, doesn’t it?

    Back to planet earth, so why is there even a thin thread for a seller to try to stand on with this R. Lalique claim?

    Well, for starters, in their groundbreaking 1990 book Lalique Perfume Bottles, the Utts say on Page 100 that there is a drawing by Rene Lalique of a similar bottle design for Coty for Meteor from 1914 showing a label that says “Meteor Harrods London”. No bottle has ever appeared with this label of course that we know of and we know of no evidence that any Meteor bottle was made in 1914. Not having seen this drawing ourselves, do you think it has a plastic cap and base? And for the 2nd hook, there appears in the 2014 Catalogue Raisonne a picture of a similar bottle to this 1949 Coty bottle, without a stopper and sans the plastic cap of course, and having a different neck, but with a Meteor Label. The Cat Res dates its bottle to 1911. Either way, and assuming the best case, in 1911 or 1914 Meteor was just a twinkle in the eye of Rene Lalique and the anti-semitic wind-bag Francois Coty.****

    This best case would mean the 1949 Coty bottle is a somewhat close copy by Coty of an original R. Lalique design. And that is assuming there were prototypes or bottles made back in 1914 or 1911 or whenever for a fragrance that was not marketed until after 2 wars later when both Coty and Lalique were dead! Of course, the Cat Res says the 1911 bottle was not signed. Hmmmmm, this bottle is signed …. for Coty! How weird is that?

    Plastic Stand For The Meteor Perfume Bottle That Was Made By Coty Circa 1949 And Is Signed Coty France In The Mold On The UndersideNow we’ve never had an unsigned prototype bottle in-hand, or seen one in the flesh. But of course we’ve never seen the Grateful Dead and we’re pretty sure they exist. So anything is possible. But again, so what? None of these side-show highlights can make the 1949 Coty bottle an R. Lalique bottle.

    Anyway, one of our great volunteers wrote the seller with the salient facts, delivered with no rancor. Yet after a respectful waiting period the seller’s claims remain, and we figured it’s time to get on the record. But the really good news for anyone out there that thinks for a few hundred dollars you are going to get a legit R. Lalique bottle full of 100 year old perfume topped by the coolest marbled cap, is that Meteor bottles appear regularly costing only hundreds of dollars, with boxes that are not ratty/tatty, and properly advertised for what they are: Coty Bottles. But here we have an R. Lalique dealer adding a few decades and taking a few liberties. Who else would work that up? Of course this is not exactly an epiphanetic (the last made-up of word of this article) moment! Sadly, it’s more along the lines of Captain Renault’s exclamation to Rick (Humphrey Bogart) in the movie Casablanca: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”. You can click the preceding link and see the 20 second sound byte / video for yourself!

    ** In our deprived upbringing, and with the world having been a much bigger stranger place, and with only having our Midwest educations to rely on in those younger days (where made-up words and run-on sentences were standard), we called (and still call) worn-out or beat-up things ratty, not tatty. And what is weirdly coincidental about all that is when we typed ratty into a dictionary online (just wanting to be sure we weren’t using another made-up word), 2 of the definitions that came up were of course “shabby, untidy or in bad condition” and “resembling or characteristic of a rat: his ratty eyes glittered“. What a crazy close thought to all this. Seriously, are we the only ones here who smell a rat?*****

    *** Highfalutin is a real word! It’s stuff like pretentious, affected, bombastic, and pompous.

    **** Coty bought the newspaper Le Figaro in 1922 and turned it into a virulent anti-semitic rag sheet. Then in 1928 he started the newspaper L’Ami du peuple (The Friend of the People), a low priced scandal sheet in which for one very small example he railed against Jewish Bankers calling their behavior inhuman and rapacious. Coty was actually found guilty in court in 1933 for libeling Jewish war veterans groups in France.

    ***** “I smell a rat”, is basically the same as the phrase “something about this smells fishy”. It means you think something is wrong.

    UPDATE 2 of 2 – August 9, 2017: The seller has changed the listing to remove the claim of R. Lalique from the title and also the claim of 100 years old. Here is a link to a picture of the original listing.

    Original Listing

    You may have to use the zoom function of your browser (or whatever program opens images for you) to get the cached image to expand in the window if it does not appear full size. After clicking on the link to the item, a new window will open with the cached image in it. On a Mac, just click on the image and see if that expands it. If not, press the apple key and click on the cached image in your browser window. On a PC, hold down the alt key while clicking on the cached image. END OF UPDATE 2 of 2

    In What R. Lalique World Will Any Of This End Well?

    April 1st, 2014

    In the mailbox yesterday:

    Rene Lalique Meduse Vase in Green Glass” …… It is possible that both the opalescent Bacchantes and Green Medusa Vases currently being offered on eBay may not exist. I think they are being offered by the same party. I have sent four emails asking about condition on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and requesting additional photos as of now I have received no response. These same prices were up for sale several months ago and I know they sold. My email address is ……”

    Read-in to that email what you like, it’s probably all there.

    Rene Lalique Ronces Vase in Blue GlassLet’s talk about the warning signs for a suspected stolen photo online offer:

    1. Zero feedback seller.

    2. Recently registered seller.

    3. High value items, and known to be such, starting out at a low price, no reserve, and FREE shipping.

    4. Totally different photo background in each of three listings from the same seller.

    5. Seller will not provide specific, or recent, or any photos. Ask for something very specific if you are going to waste your time: a photo that is unlikely to be available to a seller that does not have possession of the item (send me a photo of the piece next to a soda can or other specific household item, or with a pencil laid across the top rim). For high value items, what seller ignores you and fails to provide a requested photo?

    6. You find the same item and photo background in a previous sold auction listing at RLalique.com and the current seller is not the previous seller, nor is the current seller the previous buyer. **

    Of course, for confirmation you can see if you get the great reply to a buy-it-now offer: “Wire me the money so I can save the Ebay and credit card fees and I’ll accept!”

    Rene Lalique Bacchantes Vase in Opalescent GlassDoing some reading-in to all of the above, we recall fondly the great W.C. Fields 1939 movie: You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man.

    For additional information on this topic see our previous article about suspected stolen photo auction listings.

    And a reminder that while we don’t catch everything, if an online auction appears problematic, you might find it in the Suspicious Auctions listings! We usually have 100 to 200 current listings there at all times!

    Of course opinions vary, and if anyone doesn’t find these 3 listings suspicious and wants to throw caution to the wind (how many times are you going to ask for photos? :), we want to be the first to congratulate you and wish you good luck with your new bargain purchases!

    ** Check out the Meduse Vase model page in the Rene Lalique Catalogue here at RLalique.com. Courtesy of the Oracle, the original Ebay listing link from July 2013 for the green Meduse Vase has been restored so you can check out the original auction and the photos. Funny how history repeats; the old sold item has a title incorrectly calling it Medusa, just like the new suspicious one! Hmmmm.

    Rene Lalique Calypso And Ondines Light Fixtures – The Mailbag

    January 30th, 2014

    R. Lalique Calypso Opalescent Bowl Converted To A Hanging Light Fixture

    Ok Ok, there never was a Rene Lalique Calypso Light Fixture back in the day. But somehow they keep popping up, and we’ve had a few questions about them in our overloaded mailbag from time to time. So we figured with the latest inquiry, to clear it up not just for our current readers, but for anyone down the road that might be looking up at 5 or 6 mythical nude siren figures swirling around an overhead opalescent glass bowl shaped light fixture sporting an R. Lalique signature!

    The inquiry:

    I would be grateful for any help you can give me in authenticating a chandelier I own.

    It would appear to be an Ondines Chandelier by R Lalique but I cannot find any reference on your or other websites to chandeliers appearing with the Ondines design.

    R. Lalique Calypso Opalescent Bowl Converted To A Hanging Light Fixture Shown From AboveI believe that the item has been in my family for at least 60 years. The bowl itself is 9 cm high and 30 cm diameter (approximately). The faint R Lalique stamp appears in the centre of the base of the bowl.

    I attach three photos including one showing the Lalique stamp.

    I am hoping that you can let me know whether the chandelier was made as such, is a bowl later converted into a chandelier, and in either case whether it is a genuine Lalique piece.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    Regards

    Mr. X

    The reply:

    Hi Mr. X. Thanks for visiting the website and for contacting us.

    The bowl is not Ondines (6 sirens), but Calypso (5 sirens).

    https://rlalique.com/rene-lalique-calypso-bowl

    This appears (we don’t authenticate items that are not fully visible, and with the hardware on, your piece it is in that category) to be a converted bowl, with all the hardware added. Forgetting all the facts, think about Rene Lalique …. the undecorated flat bottom is the giveaway…. it wouldn’t** be like that for something made and sold by him as an overhead fixture …. it just doesn’t go over.

    R. Lalique Ondines BowlBecause Calypso is bigger (Ondines bowl is 8 inches), it is more often seen converted to a hanging or ceiling fixture.

    This is not the first of these we’ve seen of course:

    https://rlalique.com/rene-lalique-calypso-chandelier

    And see this very similar 2-siren model, which was sold as a fixture for the difference in how it would look from below as an original light fixture design by R. Lalique:

    https://rlalique.com/rene-lalique-deux-sirenes-chandelier

    Best Regards,

    KOL

    We could have skipped a lot of typing by just observing that it appears the sirens are still busy luring the unwary onto the rocks! **

    R. Lalique Deux Sirenes Light FixtureAnd we didn’t get into the number of hanging cords with the questioner, but it appears from the photos that there are only three, and four would be much more typical for these hanging bowl fixtures from Rene Lalique.

    Finally, on a more esoteric level, there is the whole question of altered items typically being deemed drastically less desirable and less valuable (or nearly valueless in many cases) by collectors when Lalique himself never would have put a curse on pieces put to good alternate uses. Usable art glass brought into the homes of everyday people; Lalique himself spoke about it. Heck, he invented it.

    The Siren - An Oil On Canvas Painting By The 19th Century British Artist Edward ArmitageAnd about alterations, he drilled holes in many bowls (but not Calypso or Ondines) to attach hanging cords, and marketed them as light shades. He cut bowls in halves and quarters and called them appliques. He affixed seals to small dishes and called them ashtrays. He sold car mascots as paperweights, and re-used parts from some pieces to make others. He even drilled holes into the sides of vases for running electric cords to convert them to lamps. Heaven Forfend!

    Just thinking out loud ……. well actually, just typing silently :).

    ** Of course a plain bottom did not prevent the marketing of Madagascar as a light fixture. But this is not really a direct comparison as the bottom of Madagascar though big, is crudely ancient (not in a bad way) and not flat.

    *** In Greek mythology, the sirens lured nearby sailors to wreck their ships on the rocks by attracting them with wondrous sounds. Just above is The Siren, a wonderful painting by the 19th century British artist Edward Armitage. Even today, the phrase “siren song” is used to describe something that sounds great but is not going to end well.

    Lalique Dealer pinkcupcakes-uk Selling Rene Lalique Glass On Ebay: R. Lalique Buyers Beware

    February 23rd, 2013

    It’s been a while since we have been motivated to write about an Ebay seller of the works of Rene Lalique. The last time was to bring the practices of the Ebay screen name Dounial, aka Naim Bouchareb, dba Renaissance Antiques of Iowa to your attention.

    But we write today to discuss three offerings on Ebay from pinkcupcakes-uk (we shorten that up to “Pinky” for brevity), a Norwich UK regular dealer in R.Lalique items.

    Rene Lalique Ondines Plate With Significant Modifications

    While you are looking at Pinky’s offerings, keep something in mind. It’s not just what an ad says that can cause a buyer to be misled. It’s also what it doesn’t say. The seller in this case is a regular dealer in R. Lalique. When you look at the first ad at the link below, think about not just what the ad does tell you, but what this Lalique Dealer doesn’t tell you.

    And our usual reminder that the motivation of the seller is irrelevant to your decision about buying from or dealing with a particular seller. A seller may not be intentionally misleading or purposefully putting out false information, they might believe their own false claims. But purposeful or not, the end result of relying on false claims is the same for the buyer. So it’s not really worth spending a ton of time pondering the question of malice or ignorance. The damage to a buyer can be just as great from dealing with an ignorant dealer as a dishonest one. We’ve railed* before that if you are going to buy from a regular seller of R. Lalique, how important it is to deal with a competent and honest dealer. So we deem it best to just be as knowledgeable as possible and to avoid dealers that fall into either category.

    With all that said, here is the title of the first offering:

    rene lalique opalescent glass ondines plate c 1921 marcilhac 3003.

    This representation from this regular seller of R. Lalique items appears in the ad:

    “very unusual shape of plate no chips /cracks/or hairlines”

    Lalique Moissac Footed VaseA representation that word by word could be claimed to be true. We can see you at the used car dealer now, when the salesman tells you the car you are looking at has no dents, no scratches, and no paint chips of any kind! The only problem is that the front bumper, both front fenders, and the hood are missing. But not a scratch, not a dent, and no paint chips anywhere. Hmmmmmmmm.

    The second listing is titled:

    rene lalique vase “moissac” thickly adjoining pointed leaves c 1927 model no 992.

    Funny how these footed Moissac Vases with R. Lalique signatures always seem to come thru a dealer. Note in the photo below that in this example the R. does not appear to line up with or match LALIQUE.

    Lalique Moissac Footed Vase R Lalique Signature

    We don’t know of any evidence that these footed Moissac Vases were made before the war. That is why footed Moissacs do not appear in the Rene Lalique Catalogue here at R.Lalique.com. We also note that they do not appear in the 2011 R.Lalique Catalogue Raisonne by Monsieur Marcilhac. We of course would welcome any factual evidence from anyone to back up the claim that these Moissac Vases with the wide base are authentic pre-war R. Lalique items.

    Rene Lalique Deux Sirenes Box For D'Orsay With Non-Original Glass Bottom And Missing SignaturesThe third and final listing we want to bring to your attention has met the difficult task of hitting a trifecta** of issues in just one listing. A trifecta within a trifecta when considering the entire situation really.

    Item 251231416506 stunning rene lalique d orsay powder box of mythological maidens c1920!

    1. The glass bottom to the box is not original to the piece. Hard to have a box without the bottom. Not a lot of picture is given to that glass bottom in the photos. “pristine condition” is the claim at the top of the ad from this regular seller of R. Lalique items.

    2. The box appears to be cut down. The molded signatures are not shown on the lower portion of the top piece where you would expect to find them. “pristine condition” is the claim of this regular seller of R. Lalique items.

    3. This is almost laughable. Pinky shows you two pictures of a signature in the ad. But they aren’t from the box, we think they’re likely from a Gui Vase. Now that’s a mark of authenticity and reliability when a seller shows you photos of the signature, even when it’s not on the piece in the ad, right?

    So to review, we have a mutilated plate with no cracks, chips, or hairlines, a highly questionable vase, and likely just part of the top of a box, mated with a bottom not original to the top, and a signature from some other item showing in the ad. Oh yea about the box… “pristine condition”.

    All for sale at the same time by the same lalique dealer. Do you think this dealer may have had his share of complaints? Check out the comments about Pinky from some satisfied customers:

    I purchased it as a relisted item …ignored emails and then said “dog ate it”

    Seller response to my query was abusive

    BEWARE OF SELLER!!!!!!!!

    Item had big chip not described at all in description. I wouldn’t buy from again

    BEWARE .THIS SELLER DOES NOT TELL THE TRUTH. USE YOUR BUYER BEWARE WISELY!!!!!!!

    Item had faults not described at all in description. I wouldn’t buy from again.

    Worst transaction I’ve had, never again!!

    Item damaged. Was returned. They relisted as PRISTINE !!!!!!!!!

    Seems like more than your run-of-the-mill*** issues for a seller with a 123 feedback rating.

    If more R.Lalique listings with questionable and/or outright false claims continue to appear from Pinky, we’ll update this article with the new material from time to time.

    * Railed is used as the past tense of the verb “rail” – to strongly espouse a position. An example would be “The speaker railed against corruption in politics.” Typically you would “rail” against something. Here, we “rail” for something.

    ** A Trifecta in horse racing is correctly picking the top three finishers in order in a race. But like so many other sporting expressions, it is now used more off-handedly to include any triple accomplishment, be it good or bad. Consider a lousy restaurant trifecta – bad service, horrible food, and high prices.

    *** Run-Of-The-Mill is an American expression from the late 1800’s ramp-up into the industrial age, where ordinary production of items from a mill, nothing special, were referred to as run-of-the-mill. It’s now used in a variety of run of the ____ phrases to mean ordinary, common, or usual.

    Rene Lalique Senlis Vases – Rene Lalique Cluny Vases: R. Lalique Collector Alert

    December 17th, 2012

    The appearance of the heavily damaged, cracked and stapled dark glass R. Lalique Senlis Vase at Skinner’s Auction House in Boston on December 15th provides a good opportunity to bring to your attention the potential for trickery in the sale of Cluny and Senlis Vases, two great R. Lalique models.

    Rene Lalique Senlis Vase That Has Been Cracked And StapledBoth the Senlis and Cluny Vase models are based on an undecorated glass body with two bronze mounts. The Senlis bronze has a leaf decor, the Cluny a more intricate masque and serpents motif. The bronze mounts are held in place thru an attachment on the inside of the vase which secures a protrusion emanating from the bronze that goes thru a drilled hole from the outside to the inside of the vase. The location of the hole is behind the masque on the Cluny and behind the largest part of the leaf on the Senlis.

    The drilled hole has caused some issues over time as the different expansion rates of the glass and the bronze during temperature changes as well as the contact of the attachment and the glass at the point of the drilled hole has resulted in many examples with spider or more severe cracks. In addition there are vases of both models that have just been damaged over time from any kind of impact from dropping, bumping, hitting a shelf, etc. And there are plenty of other ways to crack a glass vase; even something as simple as leaving it in a spot where it is heated up rapidly by strong sunlight can do the trick in many instances. And in the case of these two models, grabbing it hard enough by one of the mounts could also cause damage.

    Rene Lalique Senlis Vase Showing Bronze Mount Detail And Stapled Crack In GlassThe problem that has been created is that the undecorated glass body of the vase can be duplicated! Yes, it is not all that difficult to make a credible copy of the plain glass body, drill holes in it, and attach a set of handles removed from a damaged Cluny or Senlis. Especially with the current pricing in the market of these vases (a Cluny recently made near $200,000 at auction), the cost of creating a new glass body is nothing compared to the value of an undamaged example.

    So just checking the math here, an extensively cracked and stapled Senlis Vase sells for $3000 plus commissions. A perfect Senlis Vase is worth for arguments sake $150,000 – $200,000. So you have a bit of room, say roughly $145,000 to $195,000 of room in this example to create a new body! Heck, super models don’t even spend that much to transform their bodies. And note that we do not know the identity of the buyer of the cracked and stapled Skinner’s Senlis Vase. We are just using its appearance to help increase the awareness of our readers. For all we know the buyer may be a collector that was happy to get the stapled version for 98% less than the cost of one that’s in good order. Or someone may have wanted the bronze mounts to use as custom door pulls on a set of doors (not a bad idea). Heck, some Art History PHD candidate doing a thesis on the history of glass repair could have bought it. You get the point.

    However, this writer was reliably informed that at least one R. Lalique dealer has in fact commissioned the making of a new glass body to replace a damaged Senlis/Cluny glass body and thus created an undamaged example from a nearly worthless one.

    Rene Lalique Cluny Vase That Sold For Almost $200,000So, is there anything wrong with “fixing”, some would say “saving” a damaged vase in this fashion? Of course not, so long as you make mention of it when you sell it!

    This brings us back to our often sung refrain: When doing business with a dealer, make certain that the dealer is honest and knowledgeable. Not just honest, and not just knowledgeable, but both honest and knowledgeable.

    How can you know? Well, you can ask other collectors that have been collecting for a long time. You can search the internet for information by typing into a search engine the name of the dealer along with other phrases such as lalique, or a city or company name etc. You can ask the dealer for references from collectors that the dealer has a longstanding relationship with. And you can get independent advice concerning your purchases.

    Rene Lalique Senlis Vase Showing Stapled Crack In Glass

    To summarize, the point about the Cluny and Senlis Vases and the dealers you choose to do business with is simply to be smart and be careful. Arm yourself with the most knowledge you can. And be as wise in spending your money as you are in making it. Amen.

    Fake R.Lalique: Identifying The Sources Of Forgeries Or Items Represented As Lalique That Are Not By Rene Lalique

    May 15th, 2012

    Czech Five Nudes Vase Often Seen With Forged R.Lalique Signature Or Just Sold As The Work Of Rene LaliqueIdentify Fake Lalique is a new sub-section of our information packed Lalique Fakes section here at THE Worldwide Gathering Place for R.Lalique Collectors and Enthusiasts.

    Through this new sub-section, we’ve made available three different kinds of information on the sources of items that turn up with forged R.Lalique signatures and items just misrepresented as R.Lalique. We estimate that the items accessible from this new sub-section account for as many as 75% of all such items that appear.

    First, we have put relevant old catalogues of Czech glass online, and linked to other sites having such catalogues. These catalogues document the source of a great percentage of later forged pieces. Keep in mind that the pieces shown thru the Identify Sources pages were not created with the intent to fool anyone. It is only the later addition of a fake Rene Lalique signature of some kind, or the false representation that the item is the original work of Rene Lalique that makes the piece a fake as far as R.Lalique collectors are concerned. But many of these items have value and are collectible in their own right, and again, were not produced with the intent to deceive anyone.

    Goblet Form Vase Which Is Not An Authentic R.Lalique VaseSecond, we’ve linked to websites that currently sell new pieces that sometimes end up with forged signatures and sold as R.Lalique.

    Third, we’ve linked to one general information website (with hopefully more to come) which is helpful in identifying Fake R. Lalique.

    We’ve also created an outline on our Authenticating Lalique page, which directs interested owners of possible problem pieces or potential purchasers of any R.Lalique piece, through a four-step process utilizing the resources available here at RLalique.com. The process steps through the resources on Lalique Forgeries, the Modern Lalique Crystal Signatures page, the new Identify Fake R. Lalique sub-section, and finally to the documented R.Lalique Copies that are known to exist.

    Czech Underwater Motif Vase Which Is Not An Authentic Rene Lalique Glass ItemWe also placed online and accessible from the navigation bar on every page of the main RLalique.com website (all pages except the Blog) a new section on Lalique Signatures! The signature section is broken down into three sub-sections: Authentic Rene Lalique Signatures, Fake R.Lalique Signatures, and the previously mentioned Lalique Crystal Signatures. Actual signatures from actual pieces are shown on all three of these sub-sections. It’s worth keeping in mind that signatures do not authentic pieces as many signatures are easily faked. However, armed with knowledge you can differentiate between modern Lalique Crystal and authentic Rene Lalique signatures. And of course, some signatures are so far off the reservation that being able to spot those saves a lot of time (and possibly money and headaches) as well. Previously the reference literature had but a handful of mainly line drawn signatures for collectors to examine. Now there are hundreds of real examples taken from real pieces. And for the Rene Lalique Signatures and the Cristal Lalique Signatures sub-sections, if you put your cursor over any photo in those two sub-sections, a text window will appear telling you what piece the signature was found on.

    Czech Floral Decorated Vase Which Is Not Authentic Rene LaliqueIn the future, time permitting as always :), we’ll add over 1000 more photos to the Forgeries section of items that have appeared falsely represented as R. Lalique. And we’ll be breaking the Forgeries section down into more categories to make it faster to look just for the type of piece you have instead of having to scroll thru photos that may show items unrelated to the specific type of item you are researching.

    As the value of the great authentic R.Lalique glass and other items continues to appreciate, more and more vigilance is needed to become educated and watchful for the increasing number of fakes entering, or attempting to enter the market. Our Suspicious Lalique Auctions page continues to grow with more and more listings on a continuous basis as fakes and questionable pieces come up for auction in greater numbers. The good news is that this problem is minor for R.Lalique when compared to many collecting fields, some of which have been greatly damaged by the intrusion of fakes and forgeries. But only through information, education, and vigilance by the entire collecting community, can the fakes and forgeries be kept at bay**. This is an effort that benefits everyone involved with the works of Rene Lalique.

    Opalescent Glass Starfish Coaster Which Is Not Authentic Rene LaliqueIn that regard we are actively soliciting additional sources of information for the new Identify Fakes section; for help in finding and exposing current fakes at auction; in getting information on any other R.Lalique copies that appear; or about ongoing scams as they develop. Also for example, if you have a photo of an R.Lalique signature that we do not show, or of a Cristal Lalique signature we are missing, we would gladly accept help in that area as well. If not for the generous contributions of time and information from many R.Lalique collectors, the information on fakes that we have organized and highlighted here would be just a fraction of its current volume. We have accomplished a lot, but more work remains, and we can use all the help we can get.

    Czech Glass Toothpick Holder or Cigarette Holder Which Is Not Authentic Rene LaliqueAnd finally related to this topic, we have a major sub-section where we are assembling photos of known Lalique Crystal Reproductions by the modern Lalique Company of original Rene Lalique designs. This information lets collectors know on which R.Lalique pieces they need to be even more vigilant to ensure they don’t have a modern crystal piece with an altered signature. This sub-section is nearly complete for reproduced vases, but far from complete in other types of items, and we would welcome photos from anyone having pictures of modern crystal reproductions not yet shown on that page.

    We are quite hopeful that these latest steps to augment and organize the vast information on Fakes here at RLalique.com will make it easier and faster for potential buyers to get the added information they may need to make better informed decisions about a potential purchase, or for owners to get information about the true nature of a piece they possess.

    Oh ya, none of the items pictured in this article are authentic R. Lalique glass.

    ** “keeping at bay” is an idiomatic expression which means to keep something or someone away from you that might be harmful or unpleasant.

    LR – RL Signature: Louis Rault – Art Nouveau Medalist, Designer, Chaser & Rene Lalique Contemporary

    April 6th, 2012

    RL-LR Signature Of Louis Rault Often Confused For A Rene Lalique MarkOn almost any day of the year, somewhere in the world there is a medal, button, pendant, cufflink, locket, hatpin, or similar object for sale with the mark you see in the first photo here, represented to be the work of Rene Lalique. The hard evidence is the signed “RL” signature. And the soft evidence is the style of the piece, and the likely period of its creation.

    But the hard evidence is wrong. The signature is not RL, it’s LR and it’s the mark of Louis Armand Rault, a Frenchman who lived from 1847 to 1903. Rault was a sculpture, a chaser, a jeweler and a medalist. Born the son of a shoemaker in St. Calais in the Pays-de-la-Loire region of northwestern France, by the age of 21 he was working for Boucheron in Paris. The great Henri Vever believed that Rault might have been the most talented chaser of all time! Rault created many unique and attractive objects, a number of which are in major museums.

    RL-LR Signature On Female With Crown Medallion Cuff LinkBut his most often seen works are in a handful of designs that were apparently licensed for use by many different manufacturers. So for example, one of his females in profile designs, may appear in a gilt metal stickpin stamped out in France, or on Sheffield Silver buttons made in England, or on a pendant with the addition of gems around the neck of the female. In addition to sometimes being enhanced with various gems and stones, Rault’s medals also appear inside intricate surrounds or incorporated into other objects such as ashtrays.

    RL-LR Signature On Pendant With Louis XIVThe objects with these designs all have two things in common. They all sport the LR mark shown here. And they all often appear advertised as the work of Rene Lalique. This is true for direct sales ads, online auctions, and at auction houses.

    In the very active Fake Lalique section at THE R. Lalique Worldwide Gathering Place, we receive a steady steam of reports from buyers, sellers, and interested parties about the never ending offers of Rault signed LR works improperly attributed as being signed RL for Rene Lalique.

    Keep in mind that a false attribution does not always mean purposeful malice by the seller. With that supposed RL mark, a seller may think it’s truly R.Lalique, or maybe it’s just their best guess or wishful thinking. Or maybe the did some research and found the same design attributed to Rene Lalique by other sellers.

    RL-LR Signature On Medallion With Helmeted FemaleWhatever the seller’s motive or knowledge or lack thereof, the only thing that should concern you as a buyer is to be armed with enough information to dodge these kind of bullets. What the seller knows or doesn’t know is of little import.

    We decided that the best way to minimize the continued occurrences of these false claims was to create a Louis Rault reference page that can be easily found by owners and potential buyers of these Rault items who are looking for information and photos to identify these signed LR pieces. And so has been born the LR-RL Signature-Mark confusion page. Check it out.

     
     

    Copyright 2014 by City Concession Co. of Arizona Inc. We are not affiliated with anyone using part or all of the name Rene Lalique. We are a gathering place for R. Lalique enthusiasts.