June 27th, 2019
First, a little bit of background on what was a long wait.
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.
 Anyway, 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.
 Other 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.
 And 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***.
 Another 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.
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February 10th, 2019
This is one of those few times that we are going to give the ending before we report the story. And the ending is this:
Any serious collector of R. Lalique within a days traveling distance of London by air or train would be nuts* not to go and preview this sale.
Considering the number of rare and hardly ever seen objects, combined with the incredible attention to quality, and the discernment with which this collection was assembled, what we have here is a tour de force of many areas of the collecting field that will astound fans of the great Rene Lalique.
Basically, it’s a graduate level course on what the goods** can look like. And for a serious number of the lots, you can count on one hand how many current collectors have ever had that particular model item in their hand.
If you go to Bonham’s to see and handle all the pieces in this sale, it will likely change your outlook about what constitutes quality. And now to our story.
On February 20th at Bonham’s Knightsbridge in London, over 200 R. Lalique items from a single UK collection will be offered. The collection was assembled over several decades by a low-key, persistent, diligent, and well-informed R. Lalique lover who traveled the world to acquire the various objects on offer.
A numbers breakdown does not do justice to the rarity and quality of the various groups of objects, but here are the approximate counts:
Cire Perdue 1, Vases 47, Paperweights 32***, Car Mascots 40***, Statues/Statuettes 7, Perfume Bottles 9, Boxes 13, Glasses 4, Decanters 8, Seals 24, Bowls 6, Decorations 6, Ashtrays 3.
In addition to the above there are some single lots of particular types including an Invitation, Menu, Pendant, Perfume Burner, Candelabra, and Knife Rests.
 But the story is in the models. Looking at paperweights for example, ignoring crossover mascot/paperweight models, the paperweights comprise all the known commercial examples except a single religious theme 1943 paperweight. That means the incredibly rare Crab, Lobster, and both Sardine Paperweights are offered!
The are about 2 dozen seals comprising many extremely rare models including Chamois, Les Sources, and Pigeons. And there are yellow amber examples of both Bressan and Soucis.
The 8 decanters have early and rare models including Aubepines, Masques (with the rare metal stopper), Lezards, and Six Tetes.
Only 4 glasses? How about Quatre Grenouilles, Bague Lezards, and not one but two Mouettes, the seldom seen model made for the Queen of England on a State visit to France in the 1930’s.
The boxes? There are hard to find models like Guirlande de Graines and Louveciennes, but also the impossible to find and totally cool Faune et Figures Box.
The handful of bowls include the rich blue Anges Bowl, the opalescent Cyprins Coupe Refermee, and the opalescent, enameled, and patinated Fleur Bowl.
The car mascots are almost all there. And the quality and rarity will jump out at you. Who do you know with an opalescent Vitesse Car Mascot and an opalescent Chrysis Car Mascot in their collection? How about two different blue Tete De Paon Mascots?
Even the ashtrays have bragging rights to include an alexandrite Alaska and a yellow amber Ecureuil.
Finally, the vases are very heavy in early and hard-to-find, in addition to their extremely high quality. Grande Boule Lierre, Lezards et Bluets, Hirondelles, Inseparables, Camees, Lutteurs, Sirenes et Cabochons, Montargis, Bordure Epines, and Quatre Groupes De Lezards are all offered. And there are some great rare colored vases as well to include the ice blue glass Pigeons Vase and the multi-cased green and opalescent Alicante.
A lot of collectors and dealers toss around the phrase “museum quality” to describe a piece. In this sale, you don’t have to take the seller’s word for it. Here, you have a large number of pieces that were actually exhibited at a museum. And it wasn’t just any museum, it was THE museum. Many of these items have been on loan to the Musee Lalique in France for years, and others were loaned for special exhibition there.
 And the provenance on many of the other pieces is notable. We’ll give just 2 examples to make the point. The single Cire Perdue traces to the milestone December 1995 Kagan Sale in New York City. And the great Mouche Seal traces to the December 2005 sale in Paris of items from the estate of Marie Claude Lalique.
The wrap-up: This collector was not just checking off boxes****, he was filling them in.
There are opportunities here that a typical collector will likely never have again. If you are serious about your R. Lalique, you might plan accordingly.
All the lots can be seen HERE!
* Nuts has many meanings, but here we use it to mean crazy and all the associated words such as mental, bonkers, loco, scatty, meshuga and the like.
** “The goods” in this use is not intended to be the opposite of “the bads”, though these goods are surely so. Here we use it to mean “the stuff” or “the merchandise”.
*** There is some crossover of models for mascots and paperweights.
**** “Checking off boxes” is used here as a metaphor for checking off things on a list by just going thru the motions to complete each task to the most minimum standard.
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September 18th, 2018
Post-Sale Update:
The Reese Collection, comprising the first 54 lots in the sale (that included some modern pieces) had a 100% sale rate. Every single lot was sold. There were an additional 5 R. Lalique lots near the end of the auction, 4 of which sold. The overall sale rate was over 98%.
Against a total estimate range for all offerings of $188,400 to $272,000, the hammer prices came in at $269,000, or just $3000 below the high estimates. All-in with premiums, the 58 sold lots made $336,250 or an average price of about $5800 per lot. The average was brought down by both the modern items and lots with various amounts of damage or missing pieces. 24 lots (over 40% of the lots) sold for a hammer of between $150 and $1400.
High seller was Lot 1, the Firebird Decoration (minor chip to base) that made $31,250 all-in. On the same basis the amber Serpent Vase Lot 3 and the butterscotch Acanthes Vase Lot 15 tied for 2nd place at $23,750. 4th highest seller was the blue Courges Vase Lot 21 at $21,250. Fifth place went to the amber Beetle Vase as Lot 14 at $18,750 closely followed by the rare 6th place Croix Saint Georges Perfume Bottle Lot 396 with an ill-fitting stopper that got $17,500.
The high selling Firebird accounted for about 9% of the sale total. And the auction house reported there were over 2 dozen buyers representing most of the continents worldwide (no penguins of course) for the 58 lots.
What can you say? Another great day for Rago and for Rene Lalique!
End of Post-Sale Update.
Over 50 lots of great R. Lalique that make of up the Reese Collection will kick-off the Early 20th Century Design Sale at Rago in Lambertville, NJ on Saturday September 22nd. The collection is deep in rare and colored vases including by way of example the amber glass vases Serpent, Penthievre, Sophora, and Gros Scarabees.
  There are also white opalescent examples of Marisa, Poissons, Davos, Domremy, and Malesherbes. In addition there’s blue, green, red, butterscotch, and other rarities. Nearly 40 vases in all, as well as a host of other items represent a good cross-section of the collecting field.
Those other items are topped by Lot 1, the 1922 surtout Oiseau de Feu complete with original bronze base.
The surtout carries a conservative $15,000 to $25,000 estimate, just the kind of reasonable estimate that has been the hallmark of R. Lalique sales at Rago.
Exactly one year ago to the day, on September 22, 2017, Rago achieved an amazing 97% sale rate at last year’s great R. Lalique sale. That sale rate was achieved by high quality, low estimates, and readily available detailed condition reports.
This current offering follows that exact same recipe of attractive items conservatively offered with full disclosure about condition posted right online with every lot.
You can see all R. Lalique items in the sale on one page HERE!
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September 3rd, 2018
Just in here at World Headquarters is news of an auction event for which all serious collectors will want to mark their calanders. One of the most well curated* and significant single owner collections to come to market in many years has been slated for sale.
Over 200 R. Lalique lots assembled over more than two decades with a strong emphasis on rarity and condition will cross the block at Bonhams Knightsbridge Saleroom in London on February 20th, 2019. The collection has a heavy emphasis on car mascots (there will be 35 mascots) and early vases, but there are great examples across nearly the entire collecting field including the Frise Monnaie Du Pape Bowl shown here that was last offered for sale nearly 25 years ago at the incredible December 1995 Kagan Sale at Sotheby’s in New York. And there is also a great mix of academic and esoteric items as well.
 Many of the car mascots in the sale have been on loan to the Musée Lalique in Wingen-sur-Moder, France from the time of the opening of the Musée in 2011 until recently. They can be seen in a photo in an article we wrote at the time of the opening of the Musée as part of their permanent mascot display.
And every car mascot in the sale was exhibited at the Musée as part of the “Lalique and the Art of Travel” Exhibition in 2016.
9 of the Car Mascots in this sale, including a rare opalescent Vitesse, an even rarer opalescent Chrysis, and the two blue glass Tete De Paon Mascots shown above, will be on view by Bonhams as part of their Beaulieu and Goodwood Revival Sales in Chichester, Sussex, UK in conjunction with the show and the sale Bonhams is having there.
Viewing / preview times for the nifty** nine are this coming Friday September 7th from 9:00 to 17:00 local time, and again on sale day Saturday September 8th from 8:30 local time as well.
 A preview of these incredible rare examples from the collection will only serve to whet*** the appetite of serious collectors in anticipation of the coming February event.
We will update you with more details as the auction approaches.
* Curate – As a noun, curate is a member of the clergy in a lot of churches such as the Anglican Church. Probably you could stretch that to what would likely be the made-up word (in this context) “curated” as being tossed into the clergy, or inculcated in clergyism (definitely a made-up word), or something like that. However, curated here is a verb meaning that the assembling of the collection was superintended in a professional, expert, or high quality manner, such as a museum curator might do.
** Nifty – An informal word for attractive, high quality, or appealing.
*** Whet The Appetite – We often see “wet” in this phrase, but “whet” is a different word that means to hone, sharpen, or stimulate.
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November 26th, 2017
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.
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.
** 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”
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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. **
 Dear 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:
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.
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September 20th, 2017
Post-Sale Update:
The short version: What A Great Sale!
The rest of the story:
68 lots were offered at the auction, one of which was a small book lot that sold. Of the remaining 67 lots, all of which were R. Lalique items, 65 sold and 2 remained unsold. The overall sale rate for all lots in the auction was over 97% based on the number of lots, and over 99% based on the estimates, the 2 no-sales being relatively low value items.
Against a total estimate range of $253,300 to $362,700, the hammer prices of $375,400 exceeded the high estimate, and the total sale including the buyers premium of $469,250 was well outside the high estimate. The top seller was Lot 1, the Tortues Vase in alexandrite glass that made $30,000 all-in. On the same basis 2nd place at $25,000 went to Lot 7, the red Escargot Vase; in 3rd place was the blue glass Martin-Pêcheurs Vase as Lot 5 at $23,750; and in 4th place was the Lot 3 amber Serpent Vase for $20,000. The average price for the 66 sold lots was $7,110.
It was yet another amazingly successful sale for the works of Rene Lalique at Rago. The high selling lot accounted for only about 6% of the sale total. And the depth of interest revealed itself in the large number of bidders with Rago reporting over 2 dozen buyers from 5 different continents.
End of Post-Sale Update.
Hot on the heels of its highly successful R. Lalique Solana Collection sale in May of this year, RagoArts in Lambertville New Jersey is bringing yet another decades old single owner collection to auction on Friday September 22nd, 2017. The Lexora Collection consists primarily of highly desirable colored vases and features both rare models and rare colors of commercial vases.
Four examples tell the story.
Lot 1 is an Alexandrite Tortues Vase (Turtles Vase) that changes color under different light sources. **
Lot 5 is a rare blue glass Martin Pêcheurs Vase.
Lot 33 is a green opalescent Avallon Vase.
 And Lot 35 is an ice blue Pigeons Vase that combines a rare model with an equally rare color.
Of the 68 total lots, all but 7 are vases, and all but a handful of the vases are colored glass. And the remaining 7 lots have some great models including a black glass Biches Inkwell and the blue glass Mesanges Bracelet.
More good news is the reasonable estimates for some great highly marketable pieces, and the online condition reports that Rago represents to be accurate.
It shapes up to be a great looking sale with the opportunity to acquire some seldom seen items, and also to have a chance at some great popular colored vases and other models at reasonable prices.
You can see the entire sale catalog HERE!
And don’t miss the additional R. Lalique items on September 23rd in Rago’s Decorative Arts sale. Here is a link to that listing in the Worldwide Auction section.
** Alexandrite was first discovered in the Ural Mountains in 1830. It was named after the young heir to the Russian throne Alexander II.
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August 5th, 2017
 In 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?
 Now 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
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June 18th, 2017
Unbelievable really, when you consider the odds. In our lifetimes the mythical pink glass R. Lalique Acanthes Vase has appeared for sale. Mind boggling the long shot chance of this happening, and right under our noses at one of the world’s major auction houses.
 The vase went unsold as Lot 61288 at Heritage Auctions in their June 10-12, 2017 Fine & Decorative Arts sale in Dallas. Against a seemingly giveaway estimate of only $800 – $1200 for this rarity, it failed to ignite the crazy bidding war one might expect of such a rare colored vase. Perhaps the fact that we didn’t list it in the Worldwide Auctions Section here at RLalique.com caused it to be passed over, we don’t know, it’s just such a mystery.
But God knows Heritage certainly wasn’t hiding it. Here is the title of the lot listing:
An Unfinished R. Lalique Acanthes Frosted Pink Glass Vase, circa 1921
11-1/4 inches high (28.6 cm)
M p. 417, No. 902.
For whatever reason it slipped thru everyone’s fingers.
But just when you thought an incredible opportunity has fallen away, do not despair. The Lalique Gods have smiled on all you Pinkos* and given you a 2nd chance to fill in that gaping hole in your otherwise complete collection of the pink vases of Rene Lalique.
Yes friends the pink wonder is back as a post-auction offering at the following link:
Pink Vase
For only $500 all-in (and apparently you can even make a lower offer), you can hitch a ride on the pink frenzy and take your collection to new heights!
And for any doubters out there, like one of our great volunteers that contacted the auction house directly to question if it’s too good to be true, here is the reply by a representative of Heritage Auctions:
“Thanks for your input on this and I am already aware. My experience with Lalique suggests this is as catalogued, despite being not of Lalique standard, unsigned and atypical in many ways. I would be happy to hear conclusive findings that is was not made by Lalique, for educational purposes.
Respectfully,
VP
Heritage Auctions”
Note: We intentionally omitted the name of the VP of Heritage.
So, what we have from the VP are things seemingly turned on their heads**.
We recall the opening line in the famous poem by the great Elizabeth Barrett-Browning:
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”
1. A vase that is not of Lalique standard.
2. A vase that is unsigned.
3,4,5,6 ……. A vase that is atypical in MANY ways.
Note: Numbering, caps and emphasis added by us.
 We cannot know the extent of the MANY ways the VP had in mind. We would take a stab at the color, the apparent poor quality of the decoration, the all-over frosting, and the neck. But in-hand who knows what other loving thoughts might be added to the list.
All this brings us of course to our continuing caution to typical collectors (as opposed to extremely knowledgeable and sophisticated collectors), that we strongly recommend you avoid unsigned and undocumented items. Here the piece is unsigned and it does not match the documentation. And there are other “atypical” characteristics as well. What is the point in hoping you found the (not) hidden treasure? And do you (or your heirs) really want to have to re-tell whatever the story is on the unsigned etc. item when it comes time to sell? There is a ton of great R. Lalique out there, the overwhelming majority is both signed and documented.
And of course, here we see the judgment of the market. This R. Lalique Unfinished blah blah blah could not be sold at under $1000 at a major auction house, and now sits at $500 hoping for a sale. Note that according to the Heritage website you only have until June 26th to avail yourself of the opportunity.
You might also check the Acanthes Vase on the Copies and Close Calls Page here at RLalique.com. What you’ll find is that if you can’t resist the pink vase, there are many more similar opportunities out there with a variety of “atypical” characteristics including some other great rarely seen colors that you can add to your collection!
And we would be remiss if we failed to mention that there was another item advertised as R. Lalique in the same sale as this vase; an item that did sell at the auction. We will simply link to the item for your information.
To summarize, we think you can stay in the pink*** by letting the really smart people**** fight over this vase.
* Pinkos (also Pinkoes) is primarily an American word usually used to derogatorily describe in politics left-wing thinkers and communists. But while a person might conclude that an admirer of this vase is not thinking right (hence they could be thinking left), we really only used the word because it kind of rolls off the tongue flowing with the theme of this article, and not to make any kind of political statement. 🙂
** “Turn on its head” is an expression about causing a radical or opposite change in something from how it used to be, or claiming the opposite of what is. The history teacher told the student “Your version of things has turned history on its head!”. Basically, if it’s on its head, it’s upside down.
*** Before 1600, in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, we hear Mercutio say to Romeo: “Nay, I am the very pinck of curtesie”. In that time it was an expression used to denote the best or the pinnacle of something. The meaning is thought to have evolved from the rarity and crazy popularity of pink flowers. The phrase and meaning has continued evolving since that time to primarily refer to one’s feeling good or being in good health, and “in the pink” is a phrase still used today. Consider this from Inimitable Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse in 1923: “‘I am in excellent health, I thank you. And you?’ ‘In the pink. Just been over to America.'”
**** With a hat tip to Orwell and Keating, we build on their expressions by opining: “Some ideas are so wrongheaded and ridiculous that only really smart people can believe them”.
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May 17th, 2017
Post-Sale Update:
Of the 115 lots that crossed the auction block, 112 sold for a take-up rate of nearly 98%. High seller was the very first lot, the dark Amber Tortues Vase that made $25,000 all-in (all results will be on the same basis unless stated otherwise). Tied for 2nd place high seller were the red Poissons Vase that got $18,750 and the Terpsichore Vase in clear and frosted that also made $18,750. Tied for 4th place were 3 vases that each made $17,500: a great looking dark amber Languedoc Vase, the yellow Ceylan Vase, and the frosted and patinated Salmonides Vase. So basically 6 vases made the top 5 🙂
Against a total estimate range of $277,700 to $405,650, the hammer price total exceeded the total high estimate, hitting $470,125. The all-in total was $587,656. The average total sale price per lot was about $5250.
It’s typical in many R. Lalique sales that the top 1 to 3 items can account for 25% to 50% of the sale total, lifting all the average prices as well, but masking a low take-up rate and/or a weak breadth of sale. Obviously that was not the case here, as the strong offering of colored and other vases showed strength across the board with the high selling lot accounting for just over 4% of the sale total.
It was another highly successful sale for the great Rene Lalique and for Rago, and a pretty good day for the consignor.
End of Post-Sale Update.
An old collection long in storage of 115 items including nearly 40 colored vases will be offered at auction on Saturday May 20th, 2017 at the saleroom of Rago Auction House in idyllic Lambertville New Jersey.
 The lots feature a huge group of mainly larger colored vases, and an assortment of other attractive items. Of the 115 offerings, all but 20 are vases. Among the 20 non-vase lots are 4 clocks, a couple of statues (Thais in amber, Suzanne in opalescent), the iconic Masques Decanter and other various items such as the set of 6 Six Figurines Shot Glasses.
But with the incredible assortment of vases, the collection hits the very heart of the collecting field in all shapes, sizes and colors. Just a look at the first four lots previews the colored vase story: Dark Amber Tortues Vase, Blue Courges Vase, Red Poissons Vase, Green Formose Vase! And the non-colored vase offerings are highly compelling on their own to include the great Salmonides Vase, the Quatre Groupes De Lezards Vase, and good looking clear and frosted Sauterelles Vase that is complemented by the blue and green colored vase offerings of the same model.
Obviously finding the right lots is the number one consideration when bidding at auction. But also consider how the sale is being conducted:
Estimates appear purposefully low to ensure a maximum sales rate, and at World Headquarters we have been told the consignor wants everything sold.
Condition reports follow the lot descriptions in the online catalogue.
Rago guarantees its condition reports.
 You also have the fact that Rago has sold more R. Lalique through its saleroom than almost any other auction house during the last couple of decades, including many of the biggest auction house names in the world! Their experience and success is the big reason sellers of R. Lalique from all over the world find their way to Lambertville. And their reputation and the way they do business has obviously given confidence to an incredible number of R. Lalique buyers over the years.
The collection looks like a rare chance to obtain some of the standout models of the great Rene Lalique at reasonable prices with the kind of sale terms and confidence you’ve come to expect from the historic Rago R. Lalique sales.
Here is a link to the main sale listing here at RLalique.com with contact information: R. Lalique Solana Collection May 20, 2017. And you’ll find the entire sale catalogue HERE!
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October 1st, 2016
The whole Medusa And Serpent thing is a bit of a misnomer. In Greek mythology, Medusa was a winged Gorgon (one of three sisters) that had snakes for hair. People who looked at her turned to stone. It really should just be Medusa Ring and you can infer the whole serpent thing.
 Of course the hero Perseus beheaded Medusa and even then her head was known to continue to turn those who looked at it to stone. Apparently the wings weren’t part of the stone effect*.
Even though the Greeks gave it a whole new name, I’ll bet a few of you readers know exactly what this whole Gorgon thing is all about. In modern times many people just call it “mother-in-law”.
OK, getting to our story, some incredible R. Lalique Jewelry has appeared with the Medusa theme, including the great Elizabeth Taylor Burton Pendant in 2011 that made over $550,000 at auction in New York. That pendant had a drop pearl and three snakes around a dark masque.
The ring has but one snake with enameled scales that extend to the shank, and which shows a bit more dramatically surrounding a dark blue-green glass masque. 18 carat gold, enamel and glass!
When the Sotheby’s jewelry expert wrote us here at World Headquarters about the listing of the ring on the website, the only comment was “This is one of the most exceptional rings I have ever seen by Lalique”.
Apparently at least two bidders agreed!
 When the hammer came down on September 22nd in New York at their “Important Jewels” sale, against an estimate of $15,000 – $20,000, the ring without “Jewels”, “Important” or otherwise, made $322,000 including the buyer’s premium.
That made it the 5th highest selling lot for the day, and obviously the only “Jewel” without one.
Just for comparison, the four pieces that went higher contained:
1. A 24 carat sapphire and 9 carats of diamonds;
2. A 10 carat diamond;
3. A 10 carat diamond;
4. Three items containing a total of (get ready) 264.9 carats of yellow sapphires including one that weighed almost 85 carats alone, 33 carats of blue sapphires, and 49 carats of diamonds!
Rene Lalique of course was not selling jewels. He was creating art. Over 70 years after his death, out of over 200 “Important” auction lots on a pleasant afternoon in New York, the art did pretty good. Émile Gallé would be smiling**.
It’s a new world record price for an R. Lalique Ring at auction. And not a bad day for the great Rene Lalique.
* The Medusa stone effect should not be confused with the modern day stoner effect, where stoners sometimes try to fly off bridges without wings to no good effect!
** Émile Gallé called Rene Lalique “The inventor of modern Jewelry!”
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October 19th, 2015
 In the 1989 movie The Last Crusade starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, while facing a life or death choice among a table full of chalices with just one chance to identify the legendary Holy Grail and save his father, Jones passes over all the ornate goblets and settles on the plainest Jane* of the lot.
Making his choice he famously exclaims That’s the cup of a carpenter.**
Well, he would have taken a pass on October 15th at the Fauvre Paris Auction House, where an amazingly simple, elegant and incredibly unique goblet by Rene Lalique appeared at auction with a restrained pre-sale estimate of €40,000 – €60,000.
The 6 and 1/4 inch goblet featured a stylized repeating intertwined thin leaves motif silver openwork frame with rhinoceros beetles highlighted by blue and black enamel, all surrounding blown in opalescent glass. In addition it had a well worked base and a pretty cool beetle mark on the underside.
It was classic Rene Lalique, devoid of expensive gems, and having nothing in common with the ornate bejeweled chalices so long in fashion among the upper classes and royalty of the period.
It was art plain and simple, in the great tradition of Lalique’s unique metalwork and jewelry, for which Emile Galle named Lalique “the inventor of modern jewelry”.
Making great objects as art, using materials only for what they bring to the piece, and not for their intrinsic value, Lalique was able to call forth pictures in his mind, and bring them to fruition in a way that his contemporaries could not imagine. Rhinoceros beetles as the design highlight of a great chalice?***
The chalice was created during the period 1895 to 1897. It was exhibited at the l’Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1900, which was the groundbreaking appearance for the jewelry and unique objects of Rene Lalique. It was again shown at the Salon de 1902, section Arts Décoratifs in Paris where it was acquired and then descended to the consignor at the auction.
Obviously notwithstanding the lack of jewels or excessive highly worked precious metals, Lot 77 was not the cup of a carpenter. It was the cup of an artistic genius and highly accomplished jeweler.
Today, the phrase Holy Grail is not just used to describe the cup of Christ or other alternate objects.
 It’s also come to mean something you want very much; something of great significance that’s very important; or something that is difficult to accomplish or achieve.****
The Chalice had one condition problem. The blown in opalescent glass was severely damaged (though reasonably stable) as shown in the last photo here. That did not deter the roughly dozen serious bidders that competed from across the globe for the chance to own the great object of desire.
From one end of North America to the other, and from the UK to the edge of Europe and beyond, the auctioneer Cedric Melado heard from phone bidders competing with strong left bids and room bidders to make the acquisition. Bid amounts quickly left the pre-sale estimate behind and one by one the competitors withdrew until only a Frenchman in the room remained the last man standing.
He outlasted all the international interest and won the day with a final all-in bid of €206,250 (or about $235,000).
The new owner has at least one thing in common with Indiana Jones; they both chose wisely.
Kudos both to the auction house and to the expert Amélie Marcilhac. The auction house and expert got the sale information and extensive lot information out in a timely manner, and responded to inquiries immediately. And of course, they got the attention of RLalique.com. Getting all necessary information and getting questions answered was quick, easy, and professionally managed. Our experience shows that top notch service and complete information encourages confidence in bidders. The sale of this chalice was a good example of how to do it right.
 Of course a good day for the auction house and their expert, and a great day for the great Rene Lalique.
For additional information, see this Chalice’s auction page here at RLalique.com.
* A plain Jane is an ordinary looking or average girl or woman. It has also come to mean any ordinary looking object.
** Holy Grail Object: A cup, plate, stone, etc. of too many legends and connections to recount here. But what Harrison Ford did in the movie, was cement a connection in much of the modern public mind between the legend of the Holy Grail and the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, the Holy Chalice. That connection is but one of many stories and explanations that have developed over time.
*** Rhinoceros Beetles: Maybe they reminded him of his mother-in-law.
**** Holy Grail Expression: For example, a cure for all cancers would be the holy grail for many medical researchers.
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October 11th, 2015
When you think about auction houses around the world that handle large amounts of R. Lalique, you naturally think first of the 4 big companies that claim to have the highest total dollar sales. They all conduct auctions in multiple locations and they all get a substantial amount of R. Lalique.
But what you might not know, is that the No. 5 leading auction house for R. Lalique items doesn’t have a salesroom in Paris, or London, or New York. Nope! And it’s not L.A. or Chicago either.
 For the No. 5 you’d want to take a trip to a former ferry location on the Delaware River just a stone’s throw from Pennsylvania. It’s a small town in a rural area that in the early 1800’s was named, in a longstanding American tradition, after a politician in same year it got its first post office! Well, 200 years later, there is still only one post office.
And while the town’s population seemed like it was going to break the 4000 persons ceiling in 1990 when it reached over 3900 residents, it still has not been able to do so even 25 years later.
To be fair, we keep calling it a town but it is a city; one of the smallest cities in the United States. And contrary to what might come to mind when the geography challenged neophytes that rely heavily on stereotypes might understandably think when they hear “New Jersey”, Lambertville is not Newark. Not even close.
Lambertville is a great quiet, artsy, quaint, antique haunt, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. When you throw in a surprising selection of unique restaurants and some amazing bed-and-breakfast lodgings, you have the makings of a very pleasant long-weekend only an hour and a half outside of New York City.
And getting to the point of our story, if you are an R. Lalique collector, well it can be really pleasant. Because Lambertville is home to the Rago Arts And Auction Center, likely the world’s No. 5 auction house seller of R. Lalique over the last 10 to 15 years. Rago has sold an average of around 200 R. Lalique pieces per year over that time frame.
On October 16th, 2015 Rago will add to their great R. Lalique history with a near 80 lot offering of a wonderful looking single owner collection.**
 About 50 of the lots are vases, and about 30 of those vases are colored vases.
The biggest pre-sale estimate belongs to Lot 1, a topaz glass bronze handled Cluny Vase estimated at $80,000 – $100,000. The colored vase selection includes several Perruches, several Ronces, and 2 each of Monnaie Du Papes and Formoses.
For non-colored glass vases there is the seldom seen Los Angeles Vase and an enameled Antilopes Vase, as well as many others.
There are also some non-vase rarities including an Elephants Bowl ($12,000 – $16,000), a Caravelle Decoration ($65,000 – $80,000), and a Normandie Lamp ($6,000 – $8,000).
You can see all the lots in the catalogue online HERE!
Three great things about this sale jump out from the catalogue. First, overall the pieces look great. Second, the selection of items in the sale is exactly the marketable kind of items that many collectors are looking for today. And third, in the main*** the estimates appear very reasonable. It doesn’t look like they’re starting out at top dollar and hoping to move up from there. It appears they plan to sell the stuff.
Those three points are further enhanced by the fact that Rago states that they guarantee the condition reports that you will find online linked from every lot in the sale. If something looks good you can read the guaranteed condition report right there.
Frank Maraschiello, a former Director at Bonhams in New York City, has recently affiliated with Rago. A lot of the staff at Rago has handled a bunch of R. Lalique over the years, and Frank has seen a decent amount as well. He can be reached through the main phone number for the auction house: (609) 397-9374.
When you talk to Frank about the pieces of interest, also ask him about the guarantee of the condition reports. But remember, satisfy yourself first. Do your homework first. The guarantee is a great bonus, but it’s just that, a bonus. If they mess-up, and then you mess-up, you have another backstop. A backstop you should not be expecting to need because you did your homework!
With the great knowledge and experience of the Rago staff; the great looking selection, the reasonable estimates, and the continuing good market for R. Lalique, it has all the makings of another successful Rago sale, and another great day for the great Rene Lalique.
** Well there are actually two joint owners listed in the catalogue. But for “offering” purposes and assumedly some others, they are considered to be one. 🙂
*** “In the main” means “for the most part”.
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October 10th, 2015
 Cire Perdue Vases don’t come up for auction very often. Usually just a few a year. And to say they don’t usually appear at the online auction websites such as Ebay would be an understatement. But a great looking Cire Perdue did just that this week when it appeared from a Wisconsin seller (with over 18,000 positive feedbacks) that had purchased it at an estate goods shop.
The starting price was $999 with no reserve.
The online auction Item I.D. is 381432155308.
The new arrival is the vase Branches De Mures Formant Deux Anses. The vase has been unknown in modern times, likely purchased back in the day and not having come back to market. It appears in the Catalogue Raisonne only as a drawing.
The mold number 193 and the year it was made 1920 both properly appear on the underside in the glass as 193-20 and match the information in the drawing of the vase.
The vase features a wonderful blackberries motif and is represented by the seller to be basically in original condition, save minor fleabite type stuff with no cracks or chips. Obviously there are manufacturing imperfections caused by the nature of the process used to create the great Cire Perdue.
The copious photos included in the auction listing appear to confirm the condition description.
We were alerted to the offering around an hour after it appeared online, and immediately posted the vase in the Worldwide Auctions Section here at RLalique.com.
There is also a close-up picture in the highlight photos at the top of the auction page with a text link to take you straight to that listing and save having to scroll through all the other listings that are on that page (82 as of this writing).
The vase is 6 and 1/4 inches tall and a bit over 4 inches wide at its widest point.
Several bidders and interested parties have contacted World Headquarters to talk about the vase.
Judging from the level of chatter (with possibly some educated surmise thrown in), it seems that the vase should do quite well.
 Of course as usual it will likely be a bit of a nailbiter** at the end as the hoped-for pre-arranged automated bids come in (or not) with seconds to go.
Additional information about Cire Perdue pieces, including an explanation of how they are made, as well as links to all areas of the website that might be informative on the subject, can be found in the Cire Perdue Section of the biography of Rene Lalique!
UPDATE 10-18-15: The vase sold for $65,100. Four different contenders had bids in at $45,000 or more.
**A nailbiter (or nail biter) is a tense or anxious situation, which is why many people chew on their nails to begin with.
Medically speaking, the habit of nail-biting is referred to as onychophagy. So if you bite your nails in public, you can rest assured that medically trained passersby may very well be referring to you in a smarmy manner as an onychophager, a word we just made up but seems right and it could even be a word.
And if all this is not bad enough, you might as well know that the American Psychiatric Association classifies nailbiters as OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and words like “pathological” have often been used in conjunction with nail-biting behavior.
Basically it’s literally, figuratively, and literarily, about as close as you can come to wearing your bad habits on your sleeve (reaching back over 500 years to Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello – “But I will wear my heart on my sleeve”).
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