Archive for the ‘R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds’ Category
Rene Lalique Perruches Vase – A Lalique Copy That Is A Copy And Paste Of Lalique Photos And Description
June 7th, 2011
A real Lalique Ebay Eye Roller – Item No. 200616966765, an R-Lalique-Yellow-Perruches-10-Vase. A Rene Lalique Cased Yellow Perruches Vase brought to our attention by alert readers of this website. $1200 no reserve. Great pictures and great description:
R. Lalique Yellow Perruches 10″ “Vase. A translucent yellow glass vase, lightly frosted; relief molded with multiple parakeet couples perched in the trees. A bulbous form tapering towards the base with a thin raised rim at the top. Signed “R. Lalique”; no chips breaks, cracks or repairs. 10″H.
Let’s go back to May 2010, just a short year or so ago. Fontaines Auction Gallery in Pittsfield Massachusetts offers a great looking Perruches Vase! Great pictures can be seen at their online listing. Those photos look awful familiar. The vase sold for $12,000 hammer price. Here is the description from 2010:
R. Lalique Yellow Perruches 10″ “Vase. A translucent yellow glass vase, lightly frosted; relief molded with multiple parakeet couples perched in the trees. A bulbous form tapering towards the base with a thin raised rim at the top. Signed “R. Lalique”; no chips breaks, cracks or repairs. 10″H.
Does this description sound somewhat similar to the current Ebay listing?
So this is not the kind of Perruches Vase Copy we discuss in the Copies and Close Calls Section of the website. No, it’s the Copy and Paste type copy we put on the R. Lalique Police Page! Let’s face it, it is kind of suspicious.
But where is the initiative with people today, not even bothering to write a new description? At least correct the typos in the thing if nothing else. Of course the lister had the good sense and free time to cut the watermark off of the bottom of the photos from last year’s listing, which is why some of the Ebay photos seem like the bottom of the vase is cut-off :). And talk about lack of ambition, the old listing had 10 different photos, but for reasons we can only guess at (and we will shortly), the seller on Ebay is using just 9 of them. Here is the missing photo that maybe someone figured with the writing and marks around the signature it can be matched up kind of easy to another photo or a vase. Just an assumption, but whatever the reason it’s missing from the current auction, we supply it here for all our readers to draw their own conclusions!
Get your bids in early and often for the 90% price drop Perruches Vase! Oh, and you get FREE SHIPPING if you are the lucky winner! Local pick-up in Cleveland obviously not an option of course.
Lest anyone wonder if buyers get fooled, it was late last Fall if memory serves us well, that a longtime East Coast U.S. dealer was rumored to have gotten caught as the winning bidder for a Red Poissons Vase on Ebay which turned out to exist only in the photos from a previous auction sale. The red vase photos sold for the too good to be true price of around $7,000!
Now that’s just a rumor of course, but a word to the wise nonetheless: Be careful out there.
Tags: R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique Rene Lalique Auctions News and Results, R Lalique Vases and Rene Lalique Vases Posted in R Lalique and Rene Lalique Auction News and Results, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | No Comments »
Rene Lalique Victoire Hood Ornament: The Stolen (Borrowed?) Lalique Photo Auction? Lalique Buyers Beware!
January 7th, 2011
R. Lalique Spirit of the Wind Lalique Victoire Hood Ornament For Sale! Only minor damage AND “It has never been for sale before…” it’s Item No. 160528702044 which has since been removed by Ebay.
Update: After receiving complaints about the auction, the seller changed out the stolen photo to a photo of a different Victoire Hood Ornament and amended the description to list more damage. Here is a link to a cached version of the original listing with the stolen photo showing: Stolen Photo Original Listing****
And here is a post complaint photo of a Victoire the seller then claimed he was actually selling in the now deleted listing, which is obviously not the one in the original photo and listing as shown in the cached version of the original ad. Needs a bit of nose job don’t you think? End of Update Section, but see Danger Sign #6 Below.
Danger signs:
1. The auction advertisement has one photo in it, a photo that you can find elsewhere on the web if you look around a bit. Seriously, do you need more warning signs than that? If you are even thinking of bidding knowing this, serious due diligence should be taken to confirm the seller is in possession of the pictured item.
2. The seller has 18 feedbacks over 6 months or so. The top three transactions are for $85, $30, and $20! Heck, there’s even one for $0.99 (that’s ninety nine cents).
3. $32 shipping charge would not even cover the insurance!
4. Sellers of expensive items with high starting prices usually have lots of photos, not just one.
And MOST importantly:
5. This listing sits atop the list of suspicious items on the R. Lalique Police Page!
Update:
6. The Seller showed a single photo in the original ad of a Victoire that clearly was not for sale and coincidentally was a lot nicer looking than the one in the replacement photo later shown in the now deleted ad. Inquiring minds might ask: Was this fool me twice? End of Update
It’s always a good idea to ask an online seller for more photos, just to be sure they have the item. But getting more photos is still not a guarantee that the seller owns the item shown in the ad or the item shown in the additional photos (what, they’re not the same item?), but it’s a good starting point to screen out many possible problems. And an even better idea to talk to an independent Lalique Consultant to minimize the chance of a major mistake!
The two photos in this article were taken from two different places. One is from the auction ad, the other from the web. Now seriously, which of the two photos here is the one from the auction, and which is the one you can find on the web? Hmmmmmmm …..
So be careful out there. The best case here would appear to be that the seller just took a photo off the web being too lazy or unable to take his or her own photos of this apparently expensive item. And even this best case would usually be a big problem if the photo taken from the web is not a photo of the actual item for sale (a bit unlikely?). Care should be taken to sort it out before bidding.
And finally, there’s an extension of Ebay scams where there is a stolen or borrowed photo listing to be aware of if you do run into one. After the auction ends or Ebay cancels the listing, if you had written the seller during the auction to make an inquiry, then after the auction you might get something like this:
“Hi,
My Lalique “BACCHANTES” Vase is not on ebay anymore, but it’s still available for sale.
My usual schedule has been changed and I had to go to Spain to take care of some business and that’s why I closed my auction.
The final price for the vase is US $ 1,700.00 including all the shipping costs and insurance. The vase is in perfect condition with no chips, cracks or dings.
Also I want to let you know that you will have the opportunity to receive and inspect the vase before you actually pay for it. If you are interested and want to know more details regarding the purchase just contact me.
Thanks,
Leda
P.S: If you want to see more pictures with the vase give me your email address.”
If you bite, the follow-up to this email is that there is an escrow website you can wire your money to before you receive the item. But of course you can get your money back if there is any problem. Really?
**** About the Cached Auction Link: 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.
Tags: R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique and Rene Lalique on Ebay, Rene Lalique Car Mascots and R Lalique Car Mascots Posted in R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | 1 Comment »
Renaissance Antiques: Naim Bouchareb – Dounial The Ebay Seller And R Lalique Dealer
September 5th, 2010
Renaissance Antiques of Davenport Iowa, in the person of owner Naim Bouchareb, a regular seller on Ebay under the Ebay screen name Dounial, sells a lot of R Lalique items online. Some of these listings raise serious questions. We have been motivated to write about this R Lalique Seller for a variety of reasons including complaints and negative comments that have come in thru and because of the website, and also a recent couple of listings that squarely highlight the questions.
We have previously written in these pages, that if you are going to purchase from a dealer, that it is extremely important that your dealer be honest and competent. It’s also important that you are armed with the most information possible, which is the best defense against regrets and the various dark arts practiced throughout any collecting field.
Here we have what in our opinion is as fake a signature as can be found. The signature resides on a piece sold on Ebay by Renaissance Antiques. The piece in the cached version**** of the Dounial Ebay Listing sports the signature on the underside of the base as shown above. This item has graced the pages of the R Lalique Police Report Section for some time.
Stranger than the signature, is its location on the underside of the base. Note in the photo the dark little pads under the piece and a signature that appears in the photo to be raised out of the glass. Of course, if you put a raised signature on the underside of a piece that has a flat bottom:
A – The signature will touch the surface of whatever it’s sitting on!
B – The piece will not sit level due to the signature being elevated from the rest of the base!
C – And the signature itself will be scraped up and maybe even off, and worn totally over time.
And there you have the little green pads, apparently to protect the signature and level the piece.
How many pieces do you have of authentic R Lalique, where the signature is raised on the flat part of the underside; an underside that by design comes in direct contact with the surface the piece is sitting on? Seriously, whoever put the signature on this piece wasn’t thinking it through, wasn’t familiar with R Lalique, or just didn’t care. Or there is a fourth possibility!
Many buyers of glass assume that a molded signature is a mark of authenticity. We have repeatedly stressed on RLalique.com that you should never buy a signature; that the signature does not authenticate the piece. In fact, the piece must authenticate the signature. In the example at hand, whether this piece is a post war Cristal Lalique reproduction or a Czech copy, the addition of the molded signature would typically be intended to give an assurance of authenticity of the piece being an original work of Rene Lalique.
But these “molded” signatures can be faked; with not too much more work than scratching in a phony signature with a sharp object. In simple terms, the forger protects with a stencil of some kind, the outline of the desired signature, and then using acid, cuts back everything else on the underside of the base a millimeter or two, leaving a raised “molded” signature that was not cut away with the acid. See Fake Lalique Signatures for other examples similar to the signature on this Coq Nain.
So here we have a regular seller of R Lalique pieces selling a piece that does not even appear right at first glance. What does the R Lalique Dealer, this regular seller of R Lalique, this Antiques Dealer, this Specialist have to say about this piece in his ad?
“AMAZING! R. LALIQUE FRANCE “COQ NAIN” CLEAR/FROSTED” and “Condition: very good condition, small chip on the base rim”
Who is the likely buyer of this piece? A beginning or novice collector that doesn’t know. Someone from the very group of collectors from which long term serious collectors emerge, assuming they don’t have the kinds of regrets to sour them on the entire collecting field that might be caused by a signature like the one on this piece.
The time spent to read up a little on Faked Lalique works and the related subjects covered by that link, may save you many regrets. And of course a little independent Lalique Consulting can go a long way toward avoiding bad experiences.
And if you liked the Coq Nain, you’ll like this cached version**** of a second Renaissance Antiques Ebay listing just as well. A bit of a play on an old Wendy’s**** advertising slogan “Where’s the Beef?”, we are inclined to ask Renaissance Antiques, Where’s the Rim? Oh yea …. “Excellent condition” so says the seller.
Compare the Dounial Ebay Domremy Vase pictured here with the photo of the Rene Lalique Domremy Vase below that came up for auction last year.
Renaissance Antiques thru their Ebay screen name Dounial is also featured on the website TiffanyFakes.com! Hardly surprising.
Is Dounial, Mr. Naim Bouchareb, Renaissance Antiques, guilty of nothing more than ignorance? Is it omission or commission? Responsibility or irresponsibility? Regardless, the result is the same for a buyer that relies on “Amazing!” and “very good condition” and bizarre “molded” signatures blazoned across the bottom of car mascots or paperweights.
And this is why, if you are buying from a dealer, that having a competent and honest dealer (along with getting independent advice concerning your purchases) is so important. If you know a fair amount about R Lalique, and if you are careful, and if you purchase from many sources at auctions, online, thru individuals, etc., you may make a few mistakes and have a couple of regrets. But if you are buying regularly from the same dealer, a dealer that is not competent and honest, you may end up with many, many regrets. It is for this reason that we emphasized previously (see Lalique Bacchantes article) and reiterate here the great importance to you as a buyer, that if you are buying from a dealer, you should ensure that the dealer is honest and competent.
And how much did Renaissance Antiques make on the Coq Nain sale? They sold the piece for $399, a lot less even than the few pieces of silver you hear tell about.
UPDATE October 30, 2010:
New Dounial Ebay LIsting: R. LALIQUE FRANCE “ROSES EN RELIEF” DRESSER BOX W/ LID
Here is a link to a cached version**** of another listing from Renaissance Antiques selling as Dounial on Ebay. The actual name of the listed box, shown here on the right in a photo from the Ebay listing, is Coppelia. It is a modern post war crystal box made by Cristal Lalique. The Cristal Lalique model number is 10578, which is documented along with the name of the box in the below photo from the book Lalique Par Marie-Claude Lalique on Page 251.
A nice modern crystal item. Certainly not an R. Lalique France “Roses in Relief” Box as described in the title to the Renaissance Antiques Ebay ad. Curiously, we cannot see the signature on the Ebay box in the photos that Renaissance Antiques has used in the ad. Curioser, the ad does not state what the signature says!
UPDATE July 18, 2011: Get Your R. Lalique Perfume Bottle – It is Signed!!
In July of 2011, Ebay Dounial put up for auction Item No. 370527285412, a modern crystal Clairefontane Perfume Bottle described by Renaissance Antiques in the Auction Title as Circa 1945 R. Lalique. Here is a link to the Cached Image Version**** of the Dounial Ebay Perfume Bottle. At least they show a (very dark) photo of the signature at the bottom of the ad; a signature that indicates it is a post war crystal reproduction Perfume Bottle by Cristal Lalique. What makes that so great is in the auction description they again say it’s an R. Lalique Perfume Bottle and add some gravitas by stating “… it is signed.” Taken by itself, that last quote is true, it’s just too bad it isn’t signed R. Lalique. We can already see the next ad: “Get your signed Picasso Painting?” And you look and see the painting is signed “Renaissance Antiques”.
UPDATE August 14, 2011: Get Your R. Lalique Drinking Glasses oops Vases!!
In August of 2011 Dounial put up at auction two different listings for Marienthal drinking glasses but advertised them as vases! Hmmmm, wonder what the motive was for that. Get your “MAGNIFICENT 1927 R LALIQUE AMBER MARIENTHAL VASE”, and don’t worry if you have a strange urge to use it for a soda or even a mixed drink!! Here are the cached versions **** of the two listings: Dounial Ebay Vase 1 and Ebay Dounial Vase 2! What will he think of next?
Oh yea, don’t drink the flowers.
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UPDATE September 24, 2011
Get Your R. Lalique damaged perfume bottle oops Bud Vase!!
“SPECTACULAR R. LALIQUE BUD VASE WITH NUDES”
The Ebay item, the “BUD VASE” which is shown above and to the left, appears to be an Ambre Antique Perfume Bottle that is missing the stopper, the entire rim, the neck, and more. Compare that to the Ambre Antique Rene Lalique Perfume Bottle made for Coty on the right! Pity the unsuspecting vase buyer. Get your one of a kind, newly discovered R. Lalique Bud Vase, so rare, it’s not documented as a vase, but it is signed 🙂
UPDATE December 17, 2011
The Buffalo Bill Cody Perfume Bottle!
“MAGNIFICENT C.1920 R. LALIQUE PERFUME BOTTLE MADE FOR THE CODY COMPANY”
Yes friends, who knew Buffalo Bill Cody was in the perfume business?
Yet another exciting discovery brought to you by Dunial of Renaissnce Antiques on Ebay! And as usual, the best thing about this bottle; the mark of authenticity is ” …… it is also signed.” Now that’s comforting. Too bad it’s not signed R. Lalique of course, but rest assured ” …… it is also signed.”
Here’s a link to the cached version of an Ebay Listing where you’ll see someone bought the thing for $199!
If anyone has any documentation that the Buffalo Bill Bottle is an authentic R. Lalique Perfume Bottle as represented in the advertisement, please forward it to us. Or if anyone has an old photo of Buffalo Bill holding this bottle, please send that to us also. 🙂
UPDATE April 28, 2012: Get Your Lalique Studios Penguin Paperweight!!
Just when you thought you’d seen everything, here’s a link to the cached version**** of a great Naim Bouchareb listing for a penguin paperweight made by Zellique Studios. If you take a look at the listing, you’ll see it’s signed Zellique Studios! But Dounial decided to sell it as Lalique Studios! You cannot make this stuff up. We also include a link to an Ebay listing from someone that properly identified the paperweight (by reading the clear signature on the piece), sold it as Zellique, and got more money with a truthful advertisement than Mr. Bouchareb did passing the thing off as Lalique. You can draw your own conclusions about what pays and what does not pay.
And the band plays on.
*** Wendy’s was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1969 by one of the great (and regretfully late) American Entrepreneurs, Dave Thomas. There is a persistent and widespread story going around that he named the restaurant chain after his daughter Wendy. But he didn’t have a daughter named Wendy! His daughter’s name was Melinda Lou. Of course at a young age she couldn’t pronounce her own name, and got the nickname Wendy, a name she could pronounce, which makes the whole story true enough. To think we’ve really been eating at Melinda Lou’s all this time.
****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.
October 23rd, 2010 Update: Switched Item Link To Cached Image Version
January 10, 2011 Update: Switched Roses Box Link to Cached Image Version
July 18, 2011 Update: Added paragraph to discuss current offering of a modern crystal perfume bottles as R. Lalique Circa 1945.
August 14, 2011 Update: Added paragraph to discuss offering Marienthal drinking glasses as vases.
August 15, 2011 Update: Updated links. Switched Marienthal drinking glass listings to Cached Image Versions. Both sold listings strangely disappeared from Ebay already. Dounial had also re-listed what appeared to be the same yellow amber Marienthal Glass (the “vase” that had just sold?) and that re-listing also disappeared. We also updated the Clairefontaine Perfume link to the Cached Image Version from our July update, as this listing also disappeared from Ebay along with the aforementioned other listings.
December 23, 2011 Update: Switched Bud Vase / Damaged Perfume Bottle link to Cached Image Version
April 28, 2012 Update: Added modern Zelique Studios Penguin Dounial sold as R.Lalique and switched the Wild Bill Cody Perfume Bottle link to the cached version.
Tags: R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Sellers, Rene Lalique Car Mascots and R Lalique Car Mascots, Rene Lalique Paperweights - Lalique Paperweights, Suspicious RLalique-R Lalique-Rene Lalique Auctions Posted in R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication Identification, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | 1 Comment »
R. Lalique Online: Ebay And The Eagles – Lalique And The Beetles
August 7th, 2010
EBay is a great marketplace for the works of Rene Lalique. Cool and rare objects appear out of the hinterlands and offer opportunities for collectors they would never have seen before. And just the sheer volume of daily trading of R. Lalique items creates liquidity in the market and contributes to the overall stability of the worldwide collecting field. It’s a great place to sell items with low transaction costs, and a great place to buy pieces as well.
But like all things, the story is usually not entirely one sided, and as regular visitors to RLalique.com are aware, many items are listed on Ebay under the R. Lalique banner, that are not always exactly what they seem.
The RLalique Police Page always has a “good” selection of various problematic Ebay auctions listed for anyone that wants to take the time to investigate before bidding on something. And we can’t leave this topic without mentioning of course, that we also do offer affordable Lalique Consulting for any purchase, not just on Ebay but for any auction item (or an entire auction) or private sale worldwide.
One Ebay item in particular was brought to our attention by several alert readers in recent days and it has graced the top of the RLalique Police listings since it first appeared online. The auction was purportedly for the Rene Lalique Vase Gros Scarabees: The Lalique Beetle Vase! The auction ended today, and while we were looking at the Ebay Item Page in feigned disbelief, the refrain from the old Eagles standard kept running thru our minds:
There’s gonna be a heartache tonight,
A heartache tonight, I know.
There’s gonna be a heartache tonight, I know.
Lord, I know.
What makes this listing so “great”, is the sheer laziness of the Ebay seller combined with the obvious warning signs. Here is a link to a saved/cached image version of the original 190426530971 listing online***, the “Grosses Scarabees Vase”. You can’t make these names up, they just appear! How did this become the “Grosses”? Simple, the seller copied that information directly from a previous online auction listing along with the exact same three photos in that previous listing!
The original seller of this vase last year, an auction house that regularly sells R. Lalique, made a mistake in their heading when they brought the vase to auction in June of 2009 and called it the “Grosses Scarabees Vase”. The current Ebay lister just copied out the info, correct, mistaken, no matter. See the original listing for yourself here: Grosses Vase.
And the three photos? Well, they are actually just one photo that was then given different effects (lighter, darker, highlights) to make it appear to be three different photos.
Rago reports that with buyers premium the vase sold last year for $8400. Then it appears on Ebay a year later, with an $800 starting price and no reserve! And the lucky winner gets it for only $2000! Oh, and FREE shipping too! That’s a really big expense for the seller that he’s throwing in :). How great is this?
Well, we already know how this story is going to end:
There’s gonna be a heartache tonight,
A heartache tonight, I know.
There’s gonna be a heartache tonight, I know.
Lord, I know.
***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.
Tags: R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique and Rene Lalique on Ebay, R Lalique Vases and Rene Lalique Vases, Suspicious RLalique-R Lalique-Rene Lalique Auctions Posted in R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | No Comments »
Rene Lalique Cire Perdue Vase at Auction: A Carefully Crafted Impression In A Non-Lalique Story
December 21st, 2009
Hi. I have a bridge to sell you. It’s a wonderful bridge clearly marked “Golden Gate”. It’s in excellent condition. I inherited it from my uncle who loved bridges and had a bridge collection. My uncle told me it’s a valuable and important bridge, and I have great respect for my uncle. I don’t know anything about bridges or the value of bridges, but out of respect for my uncle and the high esteem in which he held this bridge, I have put a price on it to honor his memory. Oh, the bridge sells “as is”, payment by wire transfer, no guarantees, no refunds, no returns.
And when the deed is done the bridge seller will shout to the rafters as Iago observes to Cassio in Shakespeare’s Othello: “As I am an honest man ..!” Maybe he is, who cares (see seller motivation discussion below).
We have received half a dozen inquiries here at World Headquarters about this crafty listing. Here is a link to a saved/cached image version of the original 370308740347 listing online. 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. You have got to love some of this stuff; you have to love it!
So keeping in mind that an analysis from photos is no substitute for having the piece in hand, here it is:
The vase does not appear to exhibit the variability of finish typically found in Cire Perdue. It seems frosted either with acid or sand, instead of being Cire Perdue glass. Look at the design close up in the photo of the signature.
The underside of the base is polished and flat. Everything from fingerprints to imperfections, to almost a look of glass flow in some areas, incorporated shards and other issues that you typically see when looking thru the base of a Cire Perdue vase are not evident in the photos of the polished solid base shown in the ad.
So this is two different flags. We can’t say that no cire perdue vase would have a polished and flat underside as even the Oracle has not seen every last one of them. But totally polished and flat is not a hallmark of a Lalique Cire Perdue Vase base. Of course, if you had not ever had one in your hand, and were only working from a photo, how would you know what the underside of the vase should look like?
The extended base itself is not coherent with the vase, or typical of how Rene Lalique Cire Perdues are normally designed.
The signature from the photo is not typical of the period Cire Perdue signatures we have observed in person. It also differs from the signature on the known authentic original discussed below that is in the collection of the Musee des art decoratifs in Paris. And again, if you have not had Cire Perdue in your hand, you may not have access to what the signatures look like.
The signature appears frosted-over in the photo. This would not be typical with Cire Perdue.
The vase appears in shape and in reality to be a mold pressed vase. Briefly, in a mold pressed vase such as Ceylon, or Rampillon or Bacchantes, the inside is normally nearly smooth, as the plunger under high pressure presses molten glass into the relief design and the area between the plunger and the metal mold also has glass in it, else there would not be contact to have the pressure on the glass to push it into the relief design part of the mold.
Also, the plunger has to come out of the mold after pressing, so mold pressed vases are typically shaped wider at the top than at the bottom in a tapered looking way. Of course, it is possible to have offshoots in the mold where glass can flow in solid, and you can even have a wider base, such as with the press mold vase Danaides.
In a mold blown vase, like a Cire Perdue vase, the glass blows out into the high relief areas, and they are generally “hollow” would be a good way to describe the inside of the relief design, with the shape of the inside of the vase mirroring the shape of the design of the outside. Put your fingers into any blown vase such as Six Figurines et Masques, or Sauterelles, and feel the design from the inside, something that you can’t typically do in a press mold vase. One other example to point you to on mold-blown vases is the famous Cire Perdue Exhibition Vase Huit Perruches that is shown in part in the Rene Lalique Bio here on the site. You can put your fingers into the birds from the inside of the vase, they are hollow not solid.
Now, there can be what we’ll call dimples on the inside of design elements in a press mold vase with high relief, little dips behind high relief design elements. From surmise and not glassmaking experience, these little dimples could be caused by the extra thickness of the glass where the high relief design element is, that is thicker than the surrounding wall area of the vase. When the vase is taken from the mold at the proper time, the thick design area will be a bit hotter than the wall, and there can be a little bit of a dimple created by very minor glass flow in the hotter area. But this is not the same as basically hollow where you can feel the design from the inside.
The vase in the ad has basically solid relief design elements typical of a mold pressed vase.
And think about the purpose of press molding, high pressure in a metal mold. Not in a clay or plaster mold used for Cire Perdue, where the pressure would typically blow the mold apart.
The design of the vase in the ad appears to be a loose copy of the vase design from the Lalique Cire Perdue Vase Quatre Feuilles De Rhubarbe, CP14, that is at the Musee des arts decoratifs in Paris. This famous vase was bought by the museum directly from Rene Lalique in 1913. According to the 1991 Rene Lalique Exhibition Catalogue from the Musee that is available here in the Rene Lalique Books and Library Section on Lalique Exhibition and Museum Books, on the museum’s inventory documentation it is noted their vase is a “Unique Piece”. Hard to believe that Rene Lalique would sell this as a unique vase to the curators of the Musee des arts decoratifs, and then make a copy or near copy to sell to someone else.
Note that we have this great museum book available in hardback, softback, English or French, new and nearly new. This book also has the included great photo of the famous authentic CP14 vase which you see here.
Obviously, analyses can differ, especially from photos. But between the great “bridge” language in the advertisement and the 10 or 12 points above, you should avoid the vase.
In the end, keep two things in focus. First, the motivation of the seller is irrelevant to you as a potential buyer. You only care what you know and what you get, not what the seller thinks or knows. It’s too much of a waste of time to worry about the motives or lack of motives of the seller. Worry about the piece! And two, in this instance the seller is not even claiming the vase is an RLalique vase, or that it’s a cire perdue vase, let alone an RLalique Cire Perdue vase. Maybe the ad is supposed to get you to make that conclusion on your own. Maybe not. Either way, we’ve concluded that the vase should be avoided!
UPDATE 12-23-09 and 2/1/10: The sellers canceled their listing after the appearance of this News and Blog article, removing all their photos and substituting bridge photos! Bridge photos! Guess which bridge! You have to love it! But they have now removed the bridge photos as well, so the only thing left is the Uncle story! END OF UPDATE
February 26th, 2010 Update: Switched Item Link To Cached Image Version
Tags: R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication, R Lalique Cire Perdue And Rene Lalique Cire Perdue, R Lalique Rene Lalique Auctions News and Results, R Lalique Vases and Rene Lalique Vases, Rene Lalique Museums: R Lalique Museum Collections Posted in R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication Identification, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | 1 Comment »
Rene Lalique Fakes: Antiques & Auction News Article Features RLalique.com As Its R Lalique Reference!
October 14th, 2009
The October 16th issue of the “Antiques & Auction News”, the antiques publication that bills itself as “The Most Widely Read Collector’s Newspaper in the East!” has an extensive article covering the highlights of what collectors should be aware of in the area of fake Lalique and other dodgy items passed off as RLalique. The article, titled “Fooled By Fakes: Buyer Beware! Rene Lalique Art Glass by Anita Stratos”, also includes a discussion on color changed radiated pieces, as well as advice on how to protect yourself by being well informed.
The main reference material for the article was the information found here at RLalique.com in our section on Fake Lalique items, as well as in phone conversations between the author and an expert here at RLalique.com World Headquarters! Seriously, when you want to talk Ghosts; who you gonna call? You call Ghostbusters! When you want to talk RLalique ……….
We’ve posted the article in its entirety with the generous and kind permission of the author Anita Stratos, in our Rene Lalique Articles of Interest Section! In addition to this article, you’ll also find several other articles of interest in that section, including articles covering bid rigging at auctions and other illegal bid schemes, which were written by a lawyer knowledgeable in auction law.
We noted for the fakes article, that the incidence of fake Lalique items is much less than in many other fields, but as you can see from our Fake Lalique Section, and also the RLalique Police Page, there are landmines out there to be avoided.
Great news to have coverage of information from our site by a large and respected antiques publication. And also to have wider coverage of the kind of information that collectors should have to protect themselves against a mistaken purchase. One of the worst things for a collecting community is to have anyone, especially novice collectors or beginning collectors buy a fake or other problematic piece.
It’s in the interest of all R Lalique collectors to have widely available information in this area, and to have a large overall knowledge base of public information that purchasers can access to get educated. This article is another step in the right direction of increasing public awareness and education. Check it out.
By the way, every item model pictured in this blog post has been represented or offered for sale as R Lalique. None are.
Tags: Articles of Interest to R Lalique Collectors, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, RLalique.com Posted in Articles of Interest to Collectors, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | No Comments »
R Lalique Guarantee: A Good Rene Lalique Laugh! That Lalique Dog Won’t Hunt!
June 13th, 2009
Lalique Glass Dog: “Garanteed” 75 Years Old AND “correctly” signed R Lalique! Correctly! We love it. It’s really important when you sign these things, that you do it “correctly”!!! Is this the greatest or what? Fraud and Funny – they’re both F words aren’t they?
“A Great Rene Lalique Crystal Scotty Dog”! “Garanteed (that’s right, it’s “GARANTEED”) 75 Years Old”! Does anyone know if a “GARANTEE” is the same thing as a guarantee? Seriously, why stop at 75 years? Why not go for 175 as long as you’re rolling in it? Here is a link to a saved/cached image version of the original Rene Lalique Fake At Auction listing online. 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 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.
Grandpa (who wasn’t even from the South, but still had a bucket full of quaint expressions) used to say that you could write the word DOG on the side of a CAT but that wouldn’t make it bark! Well, what if you write R.Lalique on the side of a dog? Maybe the dog can do one of those O.J. “plaintive wail” sounds instead of a bark. Totally hilarious.
Another great thing about this crazy auction are the photos! They WATERMARKED the photos! Hmmmmmm ….. Don’t want anyone copying those great art photos and not giving credit where credit is due!
Then there’s this: “HE IS IN GREAT CONDITION FREE OF CHIPS OR CRACKS!” Well isn’t that a relief? Thankfully we won’t have to write the seller to ask about the condition, he’s got it right in the ad. Now we can bid with confidence!
This seller has all the bases covered boy. Protect the photos, issue the “garantee”, layout the condition right up front (is that “garanteed” too?), trumpet the age of the piece; all of this obviously after extensive research. Not missing a trick here, no way.
Of course, you’ll find this same dog pictured in our Rene Lalique Fakes Section, where it has been in residence not for 75 years, but for nearly 1 year!
We have only one more thing to say about this “Rene Lalique Scotty Dog”! Beam us up Scotty! Beam us up!
And for your info:
That Dog Won’t Hunt – at metaphordogs.org
And from Merriam-Websters.com Dictionary:
Plaintive – expressive of suffering or woe
Wail – to make a sound suggestive of a mournful cry
So “plaintive wail” is kind of an audible double dose of bad news….. That shoe fits pretty well.
August 21th, 2009 Update: Switched Item Link To Cached Image Version
Tags: R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication Posted in R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication Identification, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | No Comments »
Lalique Fake Jewelry At Auctions: Fake R.Lalique!
April 7th, 2009
Rene Lalique Fake Jewelry Appears With Increasing Frequency: There are currently several different jewelry auctions online  falsely claiming to be the work of Rene Lalique. This is beginning to look like the start of a trend, there having been a fourth fake R Lalique jewelry auction which just ended recently with a reported sale price of $2000! The jewelry of Rene Lalique is not as well documented as his glass works. So we thought we would highlight some of this fake R Lalique jewellery (a hat tip for our British readers) in the hopes that unsuspecting buyers may be spared an expensive education! Below are the auction listing links (3 current, one ended), and of course, the four photos in this post, all of which are being marketed as period R Lalique jewelry; all of which are fakes. You gotta love the seller of several of these items: ALL SALES ARE FINAL. THERE ARE NO REFUNDS OR RETURNS AND PAYMENT IS DUE IMMEDIATELY”! Really? Or as an alert contributor to the R Lalique Police Section (where all four of these fake R Lalique items are listed) pointed out to us, the other seller says: “I Will Divide Up The Money Among My TREE Children!” Hmmmmmm. Those fans of Hill Street Blues know the old maxim well ……”Be Careful Out There!” Don’t want to fall out of your tree!
PS. Of course, over at the R Lalique Books Library, there are an amazing number of Rene Lalique reference books for R Lalique Jewelry, including the bible of R Lalique Jewelry: Rene Lalique Schmuck und Objects d’art 1890-1910 By Sigrid Barten which has over 1700 photos and is found in the Modern R Lalique Books Section, as well a good number of Rene Lalique jewelry exhibition books and catalogs, and R Lalique jewelry auction catalogues as well.
ANTIQUE-HAIR-COMB-HORN-BY-LALIQUE-18KT-GOLD-DIAMONDS Ebay Item 190298613347 ANTIQUE HAIR COMB HORN BY LALIQUE 18KT GOLD DIAMONDS
Ebay Item 200321633101 ANTIQUE HAIR COMB HORN BY LALIQUE WITH 14KT GOLD
ANTIQUE-HAIR-COMB-HORN-BY-LALIQUE-14KT-GOLD-DIAMONDS Ebay Item 200327852647 ANTIQUE HAIR COMB HORN BY LALIQUE 14KT GOLD DIAMONDS
LALIQUE-GOLD-PENDANT-1900-ART-NOUVEAU-UNIQUE Ebay Item 270369181854 LALIQUE GOLD PENDANT 1900 ART NOUVEAU UNIQUE
Tags: R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique and Rene Lalique on Ebay, R Lalique Rene Lalique Auctions News and Results, Rene Lalique Jewelry and R Lalique Jewelry, Suspicious RLalique-R Lalique-Rene Lalique Auctions Posted in R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication Identification, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Auction News and Results, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | No Comments »
A Stand-Up R Lalique Beetle? Doesn’t That Bug You? The Dangerfield Gros Scarabees Vase!
March 4th, 2009
An R Lalique Ask Yourself This: What do some recently appearing clear and frosted Gros Scarabees Beetle Vases and Ebeneezer Scrooge have in common? Nothing jumps to mind? 🙂 Here’s what you do to find out. Check out this photo of a fake Rene Lalique Gros Scarabees Vase! Don’t spend too much time identifying the various smaller differences between it and the documented Gros Scarabees like the one shown in the Catalogue Raisonne, or the great Cased Green Gros Scarabees Vase in the Lalique For Sale Section here at RLalique.com, or the one shown in the R Lalique 1932 Catalogue. Just focus in on the bottom row of beetles. Is that beetle in the middle doing a “stand up” comedy routine? Documented Gros Scarabees Vases don’t have a beetle standing straight up in the bottom row. Don’t walk, run, from a comic wannabee beetle. We’ve taken to calling these the “Dangerfield Beetle Vases”! So many puns on so many levels. Who can “stand” this stuff? And as always with supposed R Lalique items that may not be what they are represented to be; don’t waste a lot of time questioning the motives of the seller, if they know, if they care, whatever. The only thing that’s important is to be educated and know what you are buying. Or more importantly, to know what not to buy. We’ve seen these vases in Africa, in Europe and in the United States. They are very high quality, so be aware! One last observation: It seems that whoever made this mold wasn’t trying to pass anything off as R Lalique at the time. They were just nearly copying a great design. No different in concept really than the Consolidated Perruches Vase for example, a near copy of a great design that was not made to be sold as R Lalique. It appears likely that the maker of the mold for these vases purposefully didn’t make an exact copy, because from the quality, it seems they almost certainly could have closed the last few gaps if that was their original intention. It’s the addition of the R Lalique signature that starts these vases down the path of the dark side! Oh…… Scrooge and a Beetle? – Bah HumBug! And as the late and great Paul Harvey said from time to time; Now you know the rest of the story!
Tags: R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique Vases and Rene Lalique Vases Posted in R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | No Comments »
Rene Lalique Vase Sauterelles on Ebay – $30 No Reserve – BEWARE! – UPDATE!
March 1st, 2009
The Lalique Sauterelles Vase Listing discussed in this post was removed by Ebay as of the morning of March 2nd, and the seller is no longer a registered user!
A nice looking R Lalique Sauterelles Vase has appeared on ebay, $30 and no reserve! An alert reader of this Blog wrote us to point out that this listing contains photos which have appeared previously on Ebay in another Sauterelles listing which was sold months ago. In addition, there was a more recent listing of a Sauterelles vase in January with an apparently identical sticker on the bottom to the previously sold one and to the current listing. That would be apparently the same exact sticker, not a similar one. As our alert reader points out, that would be three times for the sticker! The link to Ebay Item Number 250381642106 no longer works since Ebay has removed the listing. However, the photo in this post showing the sticker on the bottom is the photo from that listing. Listing No. 200299463246 (since deleted by Ebay) has the apparently identical sticker. You can decide from reviewing the photos. And a big thank you to “Alert Reader”! We could not provide you with all the information we have on the site, without the help of a number of great members of the R Lalique community who share their time and information to help make this by far, the best source of information about R Lalique anywhere in the world, as well as THE Gathering Place for All R Lalique and Rene Lalique Enthusiasts and Collectors Worldwide. Thanks to all of you!
Tags: R Lalique and Rene Lalique on Ebay, R Lalique Rene Lalique Auctions News and Results, R Lalique Vases and Rene Lalique Vases Posted in R Lalique and Rene Lalique Auction News and Results, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | 1 Comment »
New Features – RLalique Police and RLalique Wanted
October 17th, 2008
A great day here at RLalique.com. Today we launch two new sections adding major new features for the entire RLalique community. First, the RLalique Police! The purpose of this section is to give users of our site a place to tell the community about suspicious RLalique items in online auctions, and to give everyone a chance to talk about the items, make comments and observations, and share their knowledge about the actual identity of the suspicious items. There are two parts to this new feature; the RLalique Police Blog Thread that is the place where you can leave a comment pointing to a suspicious listing, or comment on previous listings reported by other users. We will copy those listings to the new RLalique Police Section, which will simply have a list of suspicious RLalique items at auction reported by users in the RLalique Police Blog Thread. The point of the section is to sort out the actual suspicious listings from the blog comments for easy and fast reference by users concerned about particular items online that they might be considering. The RLalique Police Blog Thread is just below this announcement, and that thread is linked from the RLalique Police Section. This has been our most requested feature since the inception of RLalique.com and we have high hopes for users to have a chance to contribute to the greater pool of information for the entire RLalique community through the new RLalique Police Blog Thread and RLalique Police Section.
The second new feature is the RLalique Wanted Section, where users can list specific RLalique items they are looking to add to their collections. This should provide a way for active collectors to get the word out about items they want to find, and it’s also a great way for collectors that have a matching piece, to have a chance to make a sale to someone they know is looking for the item they have, at a reasonable commission rate, and where both parties’ identify is kept confidential. A Win-Win-Win situation.
Please take a minute to check out our new features. We hope you will participate in listing any RLalique items you are seriously looking for in the RLalique Wanted Section, and that you will take the time to point out suspicious RLalique online auction listings, and share whatever knowledge you have about these items as they appear.
Finally, we’ve added another row of picture links near the bottom of our Home Page, to link these two new sections directly from the graphics area of the Home Page. And we’ve added these additional links to all of the navigation bars throughout RLalique.com. We pride ourselves on the ease of use of RLalique.com, and we hope you find these additions and improvements to your liking. As we might have mentioned before, we know your time is valuable, and we appreciate the time you spend here with us at RLalique.com. We are working hard to ensure that your time is well spent and we appreciate any and every contribution you are willing to make to help improve the overall RLalique community.
Tags: R Lalique and Rene Lalique Wanted To Buy, RLalique.com, Suspicious RLalique-R Lalique-Rene Lalique Auctions Posted in R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication Identification, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique Ramblings | 1 Comment »
Suspicious RLalique Online Auction Listings Thread
October 17th, 2008
This is our running thread on Suspicious RLalique Online Auctions brought to our attention by readers of RLalique.com. This is THE PLACE to post suspicious online listings by leaving a comment to this post. This thread is for items that are NOT RLalique, and we include in this thread online RLalique auctions where there is no actual RLalique item (the stolen photo auctions). We started this thread in response to reader requests. To submit a suspicious item, or comment about an item already listed in this thread, leave your comment here. We welcome comments on items that have already been posted here, concerning all the various subjects surrounding a fake listing; from the actual identify of the item, to any patterns of deception or things that can be learned from a specific listing. If an item is a real RLalique item, and you have concerns about condition or quality, this is not the place to comment. For help with real RLalique items, please check out our RLalique Consulting Services Section. Two final notes: First, you have to register to comment, by clicking the register link on the sidebar of any blog page. Your name and email address (the two main things to register) do not appear in your comments when they are published. By taking the time to identify fake RLalique appearing in online auctions, and sharing your knowledge with the greater RLalique community, you help to strengthen the entire RLalique collecting field, and you may save a fellow enthusiast from a big headache. Finally, one common sense observation from our standpoint. Not all sellers of a suspicious item are bad people. For example, someone buys an item at an estate sale or antique shop, thinking it’s a great RLalique bargain, then goes home and lists it in an online auction, not knowing the facts. That’s a different story than the seller that adds an RLalique signature to a non RLalique piece to try and increase the value, or that knowingly passes along a fake. It’s often hard or impossible to know or guess at the truth of each circumstance. What matters most is the fact of the item; whether it’s RLalique or not, and for you as a collector to be as educated as possible to know the difference between the good, the bad, and the ugly. We look forward to your contributions.
Tags: R Lalique and Rene Lalique Blog Threads, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, RLalique.com, Suspicious RLalique-R Lalique-Rene Lalique Auctions Posted in R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication Identification, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds | 97 Comments »
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