Fake Lalique is something that all collectors have to be on the lookout for. It’s something that is a problem to varying degrees in every collecting field. In the big scope of things, it’s much less of an issue with R Lalique than in many other areas of collecting, but it still is an issue to be on guard against.
Here is an Ebay listing that in a nutshell* is one of the most prevalent items passed off as the work of Rene Lalique. The stereotypical fake Sauterelles embodies not just ease of identifying fakes for a collector, but also the truth in the concept that “a little knowledge can be dangerous”**.
First, a link to the cached version of the Ebay listing: Ebay Item 140401627596. 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.. Fake as fake can be. This supposed Lalique Sauterelles Vase has all the elements. The too tall rim, the too thick rim, the crude finish, the bizarre color. And it has the added oomph of this claim “It was purchased at a Christies auction along with many other signed Lalique pieces.”
Likely, if you had this vase in hand, and you had handled thousands of pieces of R Lalique glass, you would know just from the feel when you picked it up that it’s a complete fake***. This is an easy one to spot no doubt.
But consider the danger of knowing about this piece and thinking you know-it-all about the fake Lalique Sauterelles. Because just when you think, “Oh, I can spot that coming a mile away!” the makers may adapt their tactics and go to plans B and C. So like everything else in life, when you learn about something, you have to think about not just what you do know, but what you don’t yet know.
Plan B: Take a vase like the blue/purple Ebay one, pick a more believable color, and then polish up (well, really down) the rim, and get it in a closer and less crude shape to authentic examples. With a better color and a better rim, “first glance” and “mile away” may not put you on alert! See the photo of the Amber Sauterelles Vase above.
Plan C: Start over, use a better, closer to reality glass and finish, and adjust your mold and finish to produce from the get-go**** a better looking product that more closely matches the authentic pieces in color, size, rim, and glass composition. See the photo of the Blue Sauterelles Vase below. Now, many collectors might not know the difference even after inspection if they had not handled sufficient amounts of Lalique glass, or did not take caution in examining the vase. Compare the Blue and Amber Sauterelles photos to the blue/purple one from the Ebay listing and see the improvement in technique between models.
While it is thought that these cruder and usually older fake Sauterelles Vases come from South America, the Plan C vases that we have seen have come from Europe! And of course, Plan B vases can come from anywhere from New York City to Buenos Aires.
So for the Ebay vase, what is one of the easiest copies to spot is also a lesson in what to think about once you have gained some knowledge. Not to bask in the glory of what you know, but to give some thought to what you don’t yet know!
As always, keep in mind that the knowledge or motive of the seller of one of these Fake Lalique items is almost totally irrelevant to you. Your concern is the piece and not the person. Don’t waste your time wondering too much about the seller. Spend your time wondering about the vase. This listing presents a great example of that. Here, the seller makes the Christies provenance representation. Even if they don’t have a receipt to prove it, even if Christies never sold a vase like this, the seller may have been told this by the person or place that they got the vase from. They might just be passing along what they believe to be true. Either way, who cares? The only issue for you as a collector is the authenticity of the vase and not the authenticity of the claims of the seller.
Also, many of these vases were not made with the intent to fool anyone. Someone may have copied the design because they liked it, not to sell it as something it is not. In the Ebay listing, the manufacturer of the vase did not sign it RLalique or whatever. It’s unsigned. So at least at that initial stage, there may have been no intent to deceive, just to copy! And today’s seller may believe everything written in the ad on Ebay. But again, your only concern is the piece in front of you, the here and now, and what you know to be the facts.
You’ll find links to all the information about Rene Lalique Fakes everywhere on RLalique.com in the Fake Lalique Section of the Rene Lalique Biography, including links to the Copies and Close Calls Section of the website where additional photos and information about Lalique Copies can be found including specific information on Fake Sauterelles Vases.
And if you need expert advice in your purchase decisions, take a look at the services offered at RLalique.com in the Lalique Expert Consulting Section of the website. Independent expert advice can and should pay huge dividends when making your purchase decisions. For typically a small percentage of what you are spending, it can prove invaluable in helping you buy with confidence and avoid regrets.
* “In a nutshell” is an old expression used by Shakespeare in the early 1600’s (“….O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell ……..” declares Hamlet) and by Pliny 1500 years before that (when he relates Cicero’s statement that the whole Iliad was written on a piece of parchment which might be put into a nutshell). It means a small space, or something small such as a concise explanation.
**”A little knowledge can be dangerous” – First used by Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) in An Essay on Criticism, 1709: “A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again.”
*** A “complete fake”? This begs the question: What is the difference between a complete fake and a regular fake? The answer: You’ll know it when you see it.
**** Get-go or getgo is American expression, kind of a vernacular contraction without the apostrophe. It really just shortens up the phrase “get going” or the phrase “get ready, get set, go!”. It means the start or the beginning and is usually used with in the form “from the get-go”.
All Articles on These Topics: R Lalique - Rene Lalique Authentication, R Lalique and Rene Lalique Fakes-Copies-Frauds, R Lalique and Rene Lalique on Ebay, Suspicious RLalique-R Lalique-Rene Lalique Auctions
