Rene Lalique Glass was represented by 19 Lalique auction lots at the Hong Kong Auction of Est-Quest, the venerable Japanese auction house, which took it’s Tokyo based show on the road to the ballroom of the JW Marriott Hong Kong Hotel for a 2 day auction May 15th and 16th! It’s not too often you find the works of Rene Lalique at auction in Hong Kong, so we thought a report was in order.
Est-Quest put together a pretty good selection of Rene Lalique Glass items for the May 15th session, consisting of the Rene Lalique Lamp Gros Poisson Vauge; the Lalique Car Mascot, Pintade; the Rene Lalique Bowl Calypso; the Lalique Perfume Bottle Hirondelles; the great Rene Lalique Glass Quatre Grenouilles; the Lalique Centerpiece Oiseau De Feu – Firebird; and 13 Lalique Vases, only one of which was colored glass. The auction was conducted in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), which are worth about 13 cents U.S (.129 USD) at current exchange rates. While most buyers pay 3% to 5% more than published exchange rates depending on their method of payment as explained in Terms of Sale section of our Lalique Auctions Buying Guide, we use published rates for computing currency exchange prices here in the Lalique News and Blog.
The total low estimates for the 19 lots were 1,326,000 HKD/$172,400 USD. 12 of the 19 lots sold, for a take up rate of 63%. The total Lalique sales were 1,195,000 HKD/$155,400 USD at the hammer prices, and including the 15% buyer’s premium they were 1,375,000 HKD/$178,700 USD. The result is that with a 63% sales rate, the total still exceeded the low estimate for all the Lalique auction lots.
High seller was the Rene Lalique Vase Salmonides in opalescent Lalique glass. Sporting a blue patina, this Lalique vase made a premium inclusive 322,000 HKD/$41,900 USD against an estimate of 100,000 – 150,000 HKD. Recall that a similar Salmonides Lalique Vase made over $50,000 at the Christies South Kensington Lalique Sale in November 2006. A close second place was the Rene Lalique Centerpeice Oiseau De Feu (Firebird), which against an estimate of 270,000 – 370,000 HKD, made a premium inclusive 299,000 HKD/$38,900 USD. The good looking R Lalique Vase Perruches in blue glass, was the third highest seller at a premium inclusive 132,300 HKD/$17,200 against an estimate of 125,000 – 150,000 HKD. Rounding out the top 5 were the Rene Lalique Vase Aigrettes at 126,500 HKD including premium, and the Lalique Vase Hirondelles at 115,000 with the premium.
Overall, we judge these good results, especially for this somewhat unusual venue. This marks another solid performance in a long list of successful auction sales for the works of Rene Lalique this Spring, and bodes well for future demand in Asia for Lalique glass.
Rene Lalique’s R.Lalique Glass Auction Sales Results Continue Strong: At Christie’s South Kensington Semi-Annual Lalique Sale on May 20th, a sale we discussed in this Rene Lalique Auctions Preview (and where you can see more photos of R Lalique items mentioned here), sales prices showed once again that the market for R Lalique is quite strong with firm to high prices achieved throughout the entire range of the works of the great Rene Lalique. Christies offered a small 62 lot selection, of which 44 lots sold, resulting in a take-up rate of 71% by volume. The sale totaled a premium inclusive £265,541 British Pounds, or approximately $415,000 US dollars at today’s estimated 1.56 dollars to the pound exchange rate. The average lot price was over $9400!
High seller was the stunning R Lalique Centerpiece Deux Cavaliers, sold at £55,000, and totaling £67,250 with premium, or around $105,000. Next was the fresh to market unique Rene Lalique Cire Perdue Vase Chardons, making a bid of £40,000 against an estimate of £25,000 to £30,000, for a premium inclusive total of £49,250 or approximately $77,000. Surprisingly in 3rd place, was the final lot in the sale, an R Lalique Opalescent Alicante Vase, estimated at £10,000 to £15,000, but which made a bid price of £25,000, for a premium inclusive total of £31,250 or around $49,000. All three of the preceding lots were reported to be in good condition with only the most minor issues if any. Fourth highest seller was the large and early Lalique Vase Grand Boule Lierre which made a bid of £17,500 with polishing to the base, or a total of £21,875 or around $34,000. Fifth place went to the pair of Rene Lalique Grand Depot Lamps at £14,000/£17,500/$27,500, followed in sixth place by a good looking yellow amber R Lalique Tourbillons Vase at £11,000/£13,750/$21,500.
The top six lots accounted for all in total prices of £162,500/£200,875/$313,500 or roughly just over 75% of the total pounds or dollars of the sale. After these six lots prices dropped off substantially, as these six were the only lots making more than £10,000 or $10,000. The next highest selling prices were £5000 with premium for a Rene Lalique Aigrettes Vase and £4750 all-in for an opalescent R Lalique Ceylon vase with seemingly minor issues.
Only two of the hoped for high selling lots failed to find new homes; a wonderful looking R Lalique Paons Lamp estimated at £35,000-£40,000, and the R Lalique Chandelier Hirondelles, estimated at £20,000-£25,000.
There was also strength in the middle market as well, with an opalescent Spirales Vase making an all-in £2,500, an opalescent Rampillon making an all-in £1,375, and the seal cachet Deux Danseuses making an all-in £3,000.
All in all, a very strong sale put together by Department Head Joy McCall and the rest of the highly competent (helpful and friendly!) staff at Christies South Kensington. It follows on the heals of several solid to strong performances for the works of Rene Lalique at auction around the world this Spring. And of course it’s great news that Christies continues these longstanding and highly successful dedicated semi-annual Lalique Sales, even as the major auction houses make adjustments and consolidations in other areas due to the current economic climate.
Complete results can be found at the Christie’s website.
Rene Lalique Jewelry and Unique R Lalique Objects from 1900 and earlier are the focus of the Lalique Exhibition (and a couple of other guys stuff as well) titled Artistic Luxury, which we have written about several times previously in this R Lalique Blog (Lalique Exhibitions). This great Lalique Exhibition started out in Cleveland at the world class Cleveland Museum of Art, and moved earlier this year to the Legion of Honor Museum near the Bay in San Francisco where it will remain on view until May 31st.
What a great opportunity on so many levels. First and foremost was the chance to see some amazing unique R.Lalique objects that we may never have a chance to see again. And conveniently, we have been promising the whole staff here at RLalique.com some well earned all expense paid travel, for the great work on the website. Even more conveniently, San Francisco is but a short flight from the Arizona desert, but a world away in too many ways to recount fully in this article. A great vibrant City with hustle and bustle, crowds, traffic, noise, high rise buildings, and a really big body of water close at hand. None of these things are associated too often with our usual surroundings; the Sonoran Desert. All things considered, we had a trifecta of great excuses to shut things down for a week, and head to the hills (literally and figuratively).
So, RLalique.com journeyed en masse and incognito (that’s right – incognito – so no press conferences, no scholarly lectures, no private tours, no autographs, no glad handing of Museum personnel, no local TV appearances, and no photos of our wonderful staff, 🙂 for a great tourist visit to the exhibition.
We encamped in toto at the first great hotel in the heart of the City that was able to set aside, in spite of our last minute request, the floor of view rooms we needed (see photo from the floor window). And in moments, RLalique.com World Headquarters West was rolling. With the flip of just one electronic switch, the mountain of Lalique information from thousands of places around the globe that daily pours into the desert oasis that we usually call home, was re-routed across hill and valley, freeway, lake, and mountain, and dumped onto the top floor of our new temporary lodgings. And of course, in between 10 miles a day of walking, 50 cable car rides, a highlight tour of San Francisco Steakhouses (well, the tour was one stop per day at the dinner hour and was self conducted), as well as Muir Woods, Napa, Sonoma, Fisherman’s Wharf, Knob Hill, Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury (yes, there is still the smell of marijuana in the street),
Golden Gate Park (who says the homeless have no home… they are at home – in Golden Gate Park, and we spent a lot more time talking to the people in the park than to anyone else on the trip with the exception of a nice couple from Devon England discussed below), the Japanese Gardens (green tea with sweet and spicy treats in the finest outdoor garden atmosphere), Castro Street and Alcatraz (expected to see some people we know there, but turns out they closed the prison a while back and don’t have any criminals there anymore), and other activities that are but a San Francisco foggy memory in the blur of an insane tourist adventure, we managed to spend several hours at the exhibition. And yes, that is the longest run-on sentence we could construct.
Of course we didn’t forget that we walked the Golden Gate Bridge one end to the other and back, our group joined by a honeymooning couple from Devon England that we met while hanging out on the pier. Above is a photo of Mr. Incognito himself, contemplating the distant Golden Gate Bridge from his perch on the Alcatraz Ferry in San Francisco Bay while pondering the upcoming traverse!
A small side note to the Fisherman’s Wharf visit. Our newest intern, a refugee from an east coast institution of higher learning (higher on what we have know idea), smarmily whispered to another staff member upon arrival at the Wharf: “Now I know why we’re here, those must be Lalique Seals!” Will Rogers famously remarked that it takes most people at least five years to get over a college education. NI (newest intern) might take a bit longer!
Which brings us to the first mistake of trip. Landing in typical San Francisco bad weather on a Tuesday morning (see the accompanying photo of the Golden Gate Bridge – OH! You can’t see the bridge? That’s because it’s totally foggy, a rather persistent condition apparently in SF, and to be fair to the weather, maybe cold, wet and foggy is considered good weather up there, don’t really know), we headed over to the exhibition after a great lunch in a small neighborhood establishment in one of the run down areas of town where the locals are great and the food is better, AND we were the only tourists in sight. Of course, in a re-enactment of a longstanding San Francisco tradition, it took longer to find parking spaces for the RLalique.com convoy than to eat lunch. But it was worth it. The sun broke thru the clouds for 7 minutes and 46 seconds as we enjoyed sidewalk dining (well, technically we were eating off of tables and not the actual sidewalk) at its finest. Seriously, a few small tables, great food and great service. Sorry, but the restaurant is so small we cannot give out the name here, as with our extensive worldwide audience, the place would be over-run in days, all the locals and regulars would be crowded out, and when the excitement died down, the owners would have a bunch of mad locals that found somewhere else to hang out and our endorsement would be a curse instead of a blessing. And most importantly, when we make our way back up north for SF II, sequel to the movie, at some point in the next decade or two, the restaurant might not be there anymore for our encore appearance if all of the above occurred! So we promised the owners that we would not spill the beans.
Anyway, off to the Legion of Honor Museum we go, the entire RLalique.com caravan sans police escort (think incognito), making only one detour along the way to peruse the lodgings at some upscale little housing development along the water. We arrive in the drizzle of course, only to find out that Tuesday is FREE admittance day to the museum. That is the good news. The bad news was a bit bigger. First, FREE museum does not mean FREE exhibition! Apparently, the basement of the museum is not part of the FREE area. OK, the $10 “Special Exhibition” charge was obviously no big deal and was half what we expected to spend on each ticket, BUT it turns out that to save the regular museum charge of $10, which would have been on top of the Special Exhibition charge of $10, a lot of San Francisco people go to the Exhibition on FREE Tuesday to pay half the normal total price of admission. So it was crowded. Which is a good thing in the big R Lalique picture, but which caused some minor inconvenience in viewing each of the great items close up and in the preferred casual and relaxed manner. And to think they had other people there! Hmmmmmm! At first, we thought the crowd was there because word of our visit had leaked, and the staff opinion is still split 50/50 about whether a leak occurred or not. It’s still one of the many great unknowns of the trip.
Notwithstanding the mob scene and the true reasons for the huge crowd, it was a great assemblage of amazing R.Lalique objects, which half the staff feels is probably why there was mob scene! And here is a photo of your humble correspondent in deep thought over this whole perplexing “Leak or Lalique” situation (as it came to be known by our security staff), while sitting in front of the Legion of Honor Entrance!
Ignoring those other guys whose stuff was on exhibit, the Rene Lalique items were GREAT! What can you say about the apparently unique black glass scarab vase with the rust red coating lent to the exhibition by the Musee des Art Decoratifs in Paris, which acquired it directly from Rene Lalique in 1911 for 1000 French Francs? Which was sitting right there next to the unique Grenouilles Et Nenuphars Vase recently acquired by the Cleveland Museum for it’s permanent collection (having sold at Christies New York in December 2006 on a very cold New York day)!
The coolest and most striking Rene Lalique object was the “sugar bowl” owned by the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. The body is constructed of writhing serpents, with glass blown inside the open serpent framework, and sporting an incorporated lid. The entire staff of RLalique.com unanimously voted this to be the one object most needed to compliment our World Headquarters Tea Set. No sugar, no tea you know. Of course we would purchase this great Lalique unique object in two seconds if it came up for sale, which is easy to say in the most braggadocio fashion because the Gulbenkian doesn’t sell it’s works of Rene Lalique! 🙂
The Lalique Jewelry (yes, and the Lalique jewellery) was fantastic as well, and there was a lot more Rene Lalique unique jewelry than unique objects. Amazing items, delicate in a way that Lalique’s contemporaries did not match, and stylish and refined in a way no one has ever equaled! Fabulous all ’round. And we all still want to meet a beautiful woman wearing a large and unique Rene Lalique ‘bodice ornament”.
If you have time before the 31st, it’s a wonderful trip and a great opportunity to view some of the finest output of the great Rene Lalique. Where else do you see the lily of the valley at the museum and at the Japanese Garden on the same day?
And of course, if you want to purchase the catalogue book of the Exhibition, the amazing 372 page complete hardback version with great color illustrations and some highly insightful commentary, just visit the Rene Lalique Books Library right here at RLalique.com and check it out, along with the other fabulous Rene Lalique exhibition books and catalogues we have assembled and made available to you from around the world.
Lalique: The Catalogue For The Semi-Annual Sale Of The Works Of The Great Rene Lalique (with some modern Cristal Lalique thrown in) At Christies South Kensington On May 20th Is Now Online: Lalique at Christies South Kensington will have the smallest number of lots in recent memory and likely in the history of this R Lalique auction sale mainstay. The mix of 62 offerings contains several noteworthy items. In addition, all but half a dozen of the 62 lots were produced during the lifetime of Rene Lalique and all but two are original Rene Lalique designs. Top estimated lots are the Rene Lalique Cire Perdue Vase Chardons carrying an estimate of £25,000 to £30,000 British Pounds; the Rene Lalique Peacock Lamp Paons, a wonderful R Lalique design estimated at £35,000 to £40,000; the huge and striking Rene Lalique table centerpiece Deux Cavaliers, estimated at £40,000 to £60,000; the large R Lalique Hirondelles Lighting Fixture estimated at £20,000 to £25,000; and the great early Rene Lalique Vase Grande Boule Lierre, carrying a £20,000 to £30,000 estimate. There’s a furniture specialist in London working for Christies that can tell you a great story about a drive thru the Australian countryside after leaving a house inspection meant to look at furniture, but instead departing with an R.Lalique Grande Boule Lierre Vase belted into the passenger seat for the ride back to the office!
Of course the most attractive lots are not always the most expensive, depending on your tastes and R Lalique collecting interests. For example, there is a great Tananarive Enameled Covered Box. There is also the classy Deux Danseuses Cachet, and a pair of wonderful, almost Frank Lloyd Wright (who’s southwestern desert seat, Taliesin West, is but a stone’s throw from the ancestral home of RLalique.com) style Grand Depot Lamps! All three of these are amazing R Lalique lots in their own right, though they don’t command the prices of some of the items previously mentioned.
The sale is notable not just for small numbers but also for the lack of colored R Lalique items. There’s an R.Lalique Tourbillons Vase in yellow/amber glass, an R.Lalique Bacchantes Vase in Gray Glass, the R.Lalique Vase Albert in Topaz Glass, as well as a Topaz Coq Nain R Lalique Mascot, a single lot containing the R Lalique Seal and Ashtray (Cachet and Cendrier) Lapin in Topaz, and the Blue Glass R.Lalique Pendant Serpent. That is all the colored glass in the sale. Thankfully, gray and topaz are considered colors; else we’d have only 2 colored R.Lalique lots to discuss instead of 6! That is less than 10% of the sale, and of course, it’s a 6, not a 26 or a 36 or a 46. Rene Lalique colored vases and other colored production pieces are in great demand and short supply, and this line-up is just another indicator of the difficulty in obtaining great colored RLalique items.
With the smaller numbers, some areas of Rene Lalique collecting are almost totally absent. Lalique perfume bottles, Lalique statues and Lalique car mascots are few or non-existent among the offerings. But as in many R Lalique Auctions, vases are the most prevalent offering. Roughly 60% of the lots in this sale are vases.
You can check out the Lalique Sales catalogue at the Christie’s website!
And also, don’t forget to keep us in mind here at RLalique.com if you require assistance or consulting on any or all of the items in this sale, or any other sales listed in our Rene Lalique Auctions Worldwide Section. You can find out the details of our buyer consulting services on our Rene Lalique Consulting Page.
Rene Lalique Vase Prices Were Strong In Munich At Auction on April 28th – The Susan Lalique Havilland Designed R Lalique Vase Penthievre in Blue Glass Was The High R Lalique Seller: At Quittenbaum Auction House in Munich on April 28th, over 20 lots of R Lalique Glass were included in their Art Nouveau – Art Deco Sale. Garnering the biggest price was the Rene Lalique Vase Penthievre, going for a hammer price of €20,000 Euros against an estimate of €9000 Euros. With the 27.5% buyers premium and VAT for EU private buyers (which we used to estimate all results), the dollar equivalent total all-in was approximately $34,000 dollars. The auction house summarized the Lalique results in their written sales report as follows:
Lalique glassware proved popular all round, especially the cobalt blue ‘Penthièvre’ with a fish decoration, bid up by a young German collector to €20,000
Next highest seller was the Rene Lalique Vase Aras in clear and frosted glass with patina, making a hammer of €4500 Euros against an estimate of €3300 Euros. The all-in dollar price was approximately $7500 dollars. A frosted Saint Francois Vase with patina sold for a hammer of €1700 Euros against a €1200 Euro estimate, for about $2800 dollars all-in, and a patinated frosted R Lalique Gui Vase made €2000 Euros against an €800 Euro estimate, for approximately $3300 total dollars.
You can see all the results by going to the Quittenbaum website and typing Lalique into the search box in the upper left corner of the home page.
This is yet another in a continuing solid string of sales results for R Lalique glass as we exit the Spring auction season and head into early Summer.
Rene Lalique Cased Turquoise Glass Bresse Vase Appears Online: Signed R.Lalique, with a $9.99 starting bid and no reserve, a good looking R Lalique Bresse Vase was listed for auction this morning. We love these kinds of sellers: Smart Sellers! Here is what they have to say:
Hi, Congratulations on finding Us. We run a Fair and Honest auction. We start ALL at $9.99. If after a few days without an opening bid….there’s a good chance we will Pull it Off and smash it on the ground!! We’re not asking for a kidney here…….so if you Want it……make SURE it has at least an Opening bid and we will never end it Early. You DON’T see a buy it now button… so please don’t ask. We let the E-Bay community tell us what its worth.
How great are these guys. Over 7000 feedbacks, 99.9% positive. So, they come up with the sharp little R Lalique Vase Bresse in a striking and rare Lalique color, and here it is at $9.99 starting bid and going to the highest bidder. Looks pretty clean too from the photos, except for one issue about what appears to be a very short factory wandering line, which they have shown in the photos in their listing, and which we asked about, and are awaitng further details, which will be added to this post when we get them. Of course, as always, fully check this vase out for yourself if you are interested in bidding on it. But if the little line is just a factory short wandering line on the surface, and there are no hidden issues, this seems to be a great R Lalique Vase and a wonderful Rene Lalique design in the most preferred color (well, red or cased electric blue might be most preferred:).
Here is a link to a saved/cached image version of the original Rene Lalique Vase Bresse 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. We’ve also listed this vase in our R Lalique Worldwide Auctions Section.
Update on April 30th: The seller has reported the following:
Question: Hii. The swirl…. can you feel it, does it go all the way thru to the inside, and does it reflect light as a crack would? Thanks
Answer: Hi, Its a tiny crack on surface, doesn’t even come close to going all the way through. Maybe as thick as a small sewing pin. Maybe smaller. You can only tell its a crack when you look at a veery hard side angle, otherwise it looks like a dark line. Seems to be a factory thing to me but I’m no expert. Its not sharp, as if it was still hot glass and seeped into space. Its a tiny thing but when in your hands i think you will understand. Thanks,. mike
Answer: Hi, it only reflects light when you look at it from an extreme angle. Its tiny but there. Hope this helps. Thanks, mike
July 19th, 2009 Update – Switched item link to cached version.
Lalique Vases Sell Well At Sothebys: At the March 27, 2009 20th Century Sale at Sotheby’s New York, two R Lalique vases were included. Lot 117, was a nice looking thick rimmed cased opalescent R Lalique Alicante Vase with the engraved signature R.Lalique France No. 998. It sold for a premium inclusive total of $18,750 against a pre-sale estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. The other vase was the R Lalique Vase Epicea in green glass with the signature R.Lalique. The Lalique Epicea Vase is seldom seen in color (it’s also seldom seen in frosted), and this one made a premium inclusive total of $6250 against a pre-sale estimate of $5000 to $7000. Sothebys New York did a great job of estimating these vases accurately, and got good prices for both vases. Only two pieces to be sure, but another solid result for the works of Rene Lalique as we move through the Spring decorative arts auction season around the world.
You can keep up with all the worldwide auction activity by visiting our Rene Lalique Auctions section every day.
Lalique Rare Vase Appears With A Good R.Lalique Signature: The Lalique Vase Agadir! Ring any bells? It’s Lalique Vase model number 12.245. It appears in the catalogue right after the Lalique Vase Everest, which of course is number 12.244, and right before the Lalique Vase Vincennes, number 12.246. But the catalogue is not the Catalogue Raisonne. It’s a 1950’s Lalique Cristal-Paris catalogue. But here it is, in the flesh (a LOT of flesh we might add), with what by all appearances is a good R.Lalique signature. And this sure seems like the sister vase to the Cristal Lalique Vase Paimpol (shown in the last photo below), which is model number 12.240, and which appears in the book Lalique Glass, by Nicholas Dawes on Page 105! As you have likely surmised, this excellent book, among its other virtues, is the favorite Lalique book of Mr. Dawes! Mr. Dawes states in the book that the Paimpol vase had a wheelcut R.Lalique signature. And we have word coming out of a meeting of Oracles held to discuss this very subject, that one of the Oracles that participated in the meeting confirmed beyond doubt the authenticity of the R.Lalique signature on the Paimpol Vase!
So, read from the Ebay Listing – Item Number 310131680828 on the Agadir: “This old signed R. LALIQUE FRANCE vase is 10¾” (27 cm) high and weight app. 27 pounds!!!! The diameter is 11 5/8″ at its widest point and the top diameter is 8¼” large.”
Do you have any R Lalique vases that weigh in at one pound per centimeter? This vase doesn’t really seem to fit nicely into the Archers, Perruches, Serpent, Alicante style, that’s for sure, but other late vases also don’t fit very well either. Of course this one seems particularly ill fitting! What else? It’s heavy like crystal and seems a lot more Mark than Rene in overall style and design.
Hmmmm. All things considered, when the fog of history, the fog of war, and possibly the fog of adult beverages prevent total illumination, it’s best to go back to basic precepts, one of which is: With R Lalique, the signature cannot authenticate the piece! This is true even when the signature is “authentic”! So unless documentation appears in the future showing otherwise, what we have is a post war Cristal Lalique Vase made after the death of Rene Lalique, with an R.Lalique signature applied at the factory.
And for those of you who were wondering this whole time what the name Agadir means, it’s the name of a good sized Atlantic port city in Morocco. The city was made famous in 1911 by the Agadir Crises, in which France, Germany, and England all played a part, and which lead to France establishing a protectorate over Morocco.
Now, the most important question: Who among you has a glass shelf that can hold this monster vase?
The Rene Lalique Cire Perdue Vase “Orsades de Dranches Avec Graines”, which appeared at Drouot Estimations early this week in Paris, sold for a premium inclusive 69,400 Euros or approximately $97,000 US Dollars at today’s rates. The roughly 8 inch RLalique Cire Perdue Vase, made in 1922, had not previously been photographed. It appeared in the Catalogue Raisonne only as a drawing: CP 479. The vase was signed R.Lalique and inscribed 414··22 for the mold number (414) and the year (22).
Rene Lalique Museum Exhibition Video Tour: Here is a great Rene Lalique Exhibition Video Tour in French, of the works of the great Rene Lalique from Luxe TV. The video documents the fabulous L’Exposition Lalique held in 2007 in Paris at the Musee du Luxembourg and in Berlin at the Brohan Museum in late 2007 and early 2008. The Lalique Exhibition, titled Rene Lalique Exceptional Jewellery 1890-1912 contained not just great and unique Lalique jewelry, but also some unique and other early glass works and objects including a couple amazing unique Rene Lalique Vases. The total number of Rene Lalique objects in the Exhbition was over 300. The video features Olivier Mauny, who at the time was the President Director General of The Lalique Crystal Company, and Yvonne Brunhammer, author and editor of several books and catalogs on the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods including several on Rene Lalique. She is the editor of the Official Exhibition Catalogue Book: Rene Lalique Exceptional Jewellery 1890-1912, which is a profusely illustrated oversized reference book concerning the Lalique Exhibition, as well as a substantial commentary and history about Rene Lalique and his works. There are several versions of this book with different amounts of content. The largest and the complete version (in English) which is 286 pages, is available in the Lalique Library here at RLalique.com in the section on Rene Lalique Museum and Exhibition Books. You can find out a lot more about Rene Lalique and his works in the Rene Lalique Biography Section here at RLalique.com.
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!
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!
Who is that clean shaven appraiser valuing the Yellow Amber R Lalique Bacchantes Vase at the US Antiques Roadshow in Palm Springs California in June last year? The episode aired this past week. The vase was a wedding gift in 1932 to the owner’s parents. Wonderful to see a great piece of R Lalique that has been in the same family since new. The owner almost had his bubble burst near the end of the appraisal, but everything turned out quite well! Note: You’ll have to select your video format before playing the video.
And if you need your own appraisal of an R Lalique item, check out our Rene Lalique Appraisal page here at RLalique.com.
The great looking dark colored R Lalique Senart Vase that appeared in Istanbul at the Alif Art Auction House, and which we publicized both in an RLalique Blog Entry, and in our R Lalique Auction Section, sold for a hammer price of 11,000 Turkish Lira Saturday at the Sofa Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. We don’t know the ins and outs about the refundability of the VAT in Turkey, but with the 6% buyer’s premium and the 18% VAT on both the premium and the purchase price, it adds up to a total of 13,760 Turkish Lira, or around $9100, of which $1300 represents the VAT on the purchase price. Word from the sale room was that there were several bidders including multiple phone bidders and left bids. And the word from both the Sofa and from around the globe was that in the fray were multiple bidders who had seen the item here, on RLalique.com. This would include the winning bidder, who saw the Senart on this website, and who reached out across continents to acquire this rare R Lalique Vase. A great R Lalique result against an auction house estimate of $825. One other reason for this result is that the auction house made bidding easy by accepting credit cards, by handling shipping, by the availability of phone lines, by responding promptly to inquiries for condition reports and photos, and by a reasonable bidder registration form. This was an R Lalique auction trifecta; a great R Lalique vase, a bidder friendly auction house, and of course, the global reach of RLalique.com. And now they’ve heard in Istanbul what they’ve heard in auction rooms around the world: I saw it at RLalique.com!
The Mastro Auction held in Chicago (and via their website and Ebay live) on Saturday the 13th, reports good overall results. We don’t have all the final lot by lot details, but they are reporting over 75% of the lots sold, with several strong highlight sales prices. One great result was the rare Cased Yellow Butterscotch Chardons Vase selling as Lot 483 and pictured here, which was hammered down at $14,000 bid price, plus a 22.5% Ebay Live premium for a total price of $17,150. Top seller was Lot 355, the beautiful Opalescent Thais Statue which made $27,500 and a premium of 20% ($5,500) for total price of $33,000. The three R Lalique flower sets of architectural panels which were the last three lots of the auction sold for $7500, $7000, and $7000 respectively, for a premium inclusive total for the three lots of $25,800. Also selling well was Lot 456, the striking R Lalique Tourterelles Opalescent Covered Vase which made a premium inclusive $12,000. Update Dec 26th – Final totals for the Mastro Sale were 164 of 225 lots sold, for a premium inclusive total of $324,810.
Rene Lalique Glass was represented by 19 Lalique auction lots at the Hong Kong Auction of Est-Quest, the venerable Japanese auction house, which took it’s Tokyo based show on the road to the ballroom of the JW Marriott Hong Kong Hotel for a 2 day auction May 15th and 16th! It’s not too often you find the works of Rene Lalique at auction in Hong Kong, so we thought a report was in order.
The total low estimates for the 19 lots were 1,326,000 HKD/$172,400 USD. 12 of the 19 lots sold, for a take up rate of 63%. The total Lalique sales were 1,195,000 HKD/$155,400 USD at the hammer prices, and including the 15% buyer’s premium they were 1,375,000 HKD/$178,700 USD. The result is that with a 63% sales rate, the total still exceeded the low estimate for all the Lalique auction lots.
Overall, we judge these good results, especially for this somewhat unusual venue. This marks another solid performance in a long list of successful auction sales for the works of Rene Lalique this Spring, and bodes well for future demand in Asia for Lalique glass.
Rene Lalique’s R.Lalique Glass Auction Sales Results Continue Strong: At Christie’s South Kensington Semi-Annual Lalique Sale on May 20th, a sale we discussed in this 
High seller was the stunning R Lalique Centerpiece Deux Cavaliers, sold at £55,000, and totaling £67,250 with premium, or around $105,000. Next was the fresh to market unique Rene Lalique Cire Perdue Vase Chardons, making a bid of £40,000 against an estimate of £25,000 to £30,000, for a premium inclusive total of £49,250 or approximately $77,000. Surprisingly in 3rd place, was the final lot in the sale, an R Lalique Opalescent Alicante Vase, estimated at £10,000 to £15,000, but which made a bid price of £25,000, for a premium inclusive total of £31,250 or around $49,000. All three of the preceding lots were reported to be in good condition with only the most minor issues if any. Fourth highest seller was the large and early Lalique Vase Grand Boule Lierre which made a bid of £17,500 with polishing to the base, or a total of £21,875 or around $34,000. Fifth place went to the pair of Rene Lalique Grand Depot Lamps at £14,000/£17,500/$27,500, followed in sixth place by a good looking yellow amber R Lalique Tourbillons Vase at £11,000/£13,750/$21,500.
The top six lots accounted for all in total prices of £162,500/£200,875/$313,500 or roughly just over 75% of the total pounds or dollars of the sale. After these six lots prices dropped off substantially, as these six were the only lots making more than £10,000 or $10,000. The next highest selling prices were £5000 with premium for a Rene Lalique Aigrettes Vase and £4750 all-in for an opalescent R Lalique Ceylon vase with seemingly minor issues.
All in all, a very strong sale put together by Department Head Joy McCall and the rest of the highly competent (helpful and friendly!) staff at Christies South Kensington. It follows on the heals of several solid to strong performances for the works of Rene Lalique at auction around the world this Spring. And of course it’s great news that Christies continues these longstanding and highly successful dedicated semi-annual Lalique Sales, even as the major auction houses make adjustments and consolidations in other areas due to the current economic climate.
Rene Lalique Jewelry and Unique R Lalique Objects from 1900 and earlier are the focus of the Lalique Exhibition (and a couple of other guys stuff as well) titled Artistic Luxury, which we have written about several times previously in this R Lalique Blog (
Which brings us to the first mistake of trip. Landing in typical San Francisco bad weather on a Tuesday morning (see the accompanying photo of the Golden Gate Bridge – OH! You can’t see the bridge? That’s because it’s totally foggy, a rather persistent condition apparently in SF, and to be fair to the weather, maybe cold, wet and foggy is considered good weather up there, don’t really know), we headed over to the exhibition after a great lunch in a small neighborhood establishment in one of the run down areas of town where the locals are great and the food is better, AND we were the only tourists in sight. Of course, in a re-enactment of a longstanding San Francisco tradition, it took longer to find parking spaces for the RLalique.com convoy than to eat lunch. But it was worth it. The sun broke thru the clouds for 7 minutes and 46 seconds as we enjoyed sidewalk dining (well, technically we were eating off of tables and not the actual sidewalk) at its finest. Seriously, a few small tables, great food and great service. Sorry, but the restaurant is so small we cannot give out the name here, as with our extensive worldwide audience, the place would be over-run in days, all the locals and regulars would be crowded out, and when the excitement died down, the owners would have a bunch of mad locals that found somewhere else to hang out and our endorsement would be a curse instead of a blessing. And most importantly, when we make our way back up north for SF II, sequel to the movie, at some point in the next decade or two, the restaurant might not be there anymore for our encore appearance if all of the above occurred! So we promised the owners that we would not spill the beans.
Notwithstanding the mob scene and the true reasons for the huge crowd, it was a great assemblage of amazing R.Lalique objects, which half the staff feels is probably why there was mob scene! And here is a photo of your humble correspondent in deep thought over this whole perplexing “Leak or Lalique” situation (as it came to be known by our security staff), while sitting in front of the Legion of Honor Entrance!
The Lalique Jewelry (yes, and the Lalique jewellery) was fantastic as well, and there was a lot more Rene Lalique unique jewelry than unique objects. Amazing items, delicate in a way that Lalique’s contemporaries did not match, and stylish and refined in a way no one has ever equaled! Fabulous all ’round. And we all still want to meet a beautiful woman wearing a large and unique Rene Lalique ‘bodice ornament”.
If you have time before the 31st, it’s a wonderful trip and a great opportunity to view some of the finest output of the great Rene Lalique. Where else do you see the lily of the valley at the museum and at the Japanese Garden on the same day?
Lalique: The Catalogue For The Semi-Annual Sale Of The Works Of The Great Rene Lalique (with some modern Cristal Lalique thrown in) At Christies South Kensington On May 20th Is Now Online: Lalique at Christies South Kensington will have the smallest number of lots in recent memory and likely in the history of this R Lalique auction sale mainstay. The mix of 62 offerings contains several noteworthy items. In addition, all but half a dozen of the 62 lots were produced during the lifetime of Rene Lalique and all but two are original Rene Lalique designs. Top estimated lots are the Rene Lalique Cire Perdue Vase Chardons carrying an estimate of £25,000 to £30,000 British Pounds; the Rene Lalique Peacock Lamp Paons, a wonderful R Lalique design estimated at £35,000 to £40,000; 
the huge and striking Rene Lalique table centerpiece Deux Cavaliers, estimated at £40,000 to £60,000; the large R Lalique Hirondelles Lighting Fixture estimated at £20,000 to £25,000; and the great early Rene Lalique Vase Grande Boule Lierre, carrying a £20,000 to £30,000 estimate. There’s a furniture specialist in London working for Christies that can tell you a great story about a drive thru the Australian countryside after leaving a house inspection meant to look at furniture, but instead departing with an R.Lalique Grande Boule Lierre Vase belted into the passenger seat for the ride back to the office!
The sale is notable not just for small numbers but also for the lack of colored R Lalique items. There’s an R.Lalique Tourbillons Vase in yellow/amber glass, an R.Lalique Bacchantes Vase in Gray Glass, the R.Lalique Vase Albert in Topaz Glass, as well as a Topaz Coq Nain R Lalique Mascot, a single lot containing the R Lalique Seal and Ashtray (Cachet and Cendrier) Lapin in Topaz, and the Blue Glass R.Lalique Pendant Serpent. That is all the colored glass in the sale. Thankfully, gray and topaz are considered colors; else we’d have only 2 colored R.Lalique lots to discuss instead of 6! That is less than 10% of the sale, and of course, it’s a 6, not a 26 or a 36 or a 46. Rene Lalique colored vases and other colored production pieces are in great demand and short supply, and this line-up is just another indicator of the difficulty in obtaining great colored RLalique items.
You can check out the Lalique Sales catalogue at the Christie’s website!
Rene Lalique Vase Prices Were Strong In Munich At Auction on April 28th – The 
Next highest seller was the Rene Lalique Vase Aras in clear and frosted glass with patina, making a hammer of €4500 Euros against an estimate of €3300 Euros. The all-in dollar price was approximately $7500 dollars. A frosted Saint Francois Vase with patina sold for a hammer of €1700 Euros against a €1200 Euro estimate, for about $2800 dollars all-in, and a patinated frosted R Lalique Gui Vase made €2000 Euros against an €800 Euro estimate, for approximately $3300 total dollars.
You can see all the results by going to the 
Rene Lalique Cased Turquoise Glass Bresse Vase Appears Online: Signed R.Lalique, with a $9.99 starting bid and no reserve, a good looking R Lalique Bresse Vase was listed for auction this morning. We love these kinds of sellers: Smart Sellers! Here is what they have to say:
How great are these guys. Over 7000 feedbacks, 99.9% positive. So, they come up with the sharp little R Lalique Vase Bresse in a striking and rare Lalique color, and here it is at $9.99 starting bid and going to the highest bidder. Looks pretty clean too from the photos, except for one issue about what appears to be a very short factory wandering line, which they have shown in the photos in their listing, and which we asked about, and are awaitng further details, which will be added to this post when we get them. Of course, as always, fully check this vase out for yourself if you are interested in bidding on it. But if the little line is just a factory short wandering line on the surface, and there are no hidden issues, this seems to be a great R Lalique Vase and a wonderful Rene Lalique design in the most preferred color (well, red or cased electric blue might be most preferred:).
Lalique Vases Sell Well At Sothebys: At the March 27, 2009 20th Century Sale at Sotheby’s New York, two R Lalique vases were included. Lot 117, was a nice looking thick rimmed cased opalescent R Lalique Alicante Vase with the engraved signature R.Lalique France No. 998. It sold for a premium inclusive total of $18,750 against a pre-sale estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. The other vase was the R Lalique Vase Epicea in green glass with the signature R.Lalique. The Lalique Epicea Vase is seldom seen in color (it’s also seldom seen in frosted), and this one made a premium inclusive total of $6250 against a pre-sale estimate of $5000 to $7000. Sothebys New York did a great job of estimating these vases accurately, and got good prices for both vases. Only two pieces to be sure, but another solid result for the works of Rene Lalique as we move through the Spring decorative arts auction season around the world.
Lalique Rare Vase Appears With A Good R.Lalique Signature: The Lalique Vase Agadir! Ring any bells? It’s Lalique Vase model number 12.245. It appears in the catalogue right after the Lalique Vase Everest, which of course is number 12.244, and right before the Lalique Vase Vincennes, number 12.246. But the catalogue is not the Catalogue Raisonne. It’s a 1950’s Lalique Cristal-Paris catalogue. But here it is, in the flesh (a LOT of flesh we might add), with what by all appearances is a good R.Lalique signature. And this sure seems like the sister vase to the Cristal Lalique Vase Paimpol (shown in the last photo below), which is model number 12.240, and which appears in the book Lalique Glass, by Nicholas Dawes on Page 105! As you have likely surmised, this excellent book, among its other virtues, is the favorite Lalique book of Mr. Dawes! Mr. Dawes states in the book that the Paimpol vase had a wheelcut R.Lalique signature. And we have word coming out of a meeting of Oracles held to discuss this very subject, that one of the Oracles that participated in the meeting confirmed beyond doubt the authenticity of the R.Lalique signature on the Paimpol Vase!
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 
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!
The great looking dark colored R Lalique Senart Vase that appeared in Istanbul at the Alif Art Auction House, and which we publicized both in an 
The Mastro Auction held in Chicago (and via their website and Ebay live) on Saturday the 13th, reports good overall results. We don’t have all the final lot by lot details, but they are reporting over 75% of the lots sold, with several strong highlight sales prices. One great result was the rare Cased Yellow Butterscotch Chardons Vase selling as Lot 483 and pictured here, which was hammered down at $14,000 bid price, plus a 22.5% Ebay Live premium for a total price of $17,150. Top seller was Lot 355, the beautiful Opalescent Thais Statue which made $27,500 and a premium of 20% ($5,500) for total price of $33,000. The three R Lalique flower sets of architectural panels which were the last three lots of the auction sold for $7500, $7000, and $7000 respectively, for a premium inclusive total for the three lots of $25,800. Also selling well was Lot 456, the striking R Lalique Tourterelles Opalescent Covered Vase which made a premium inclusive $12,000. Update Dec 26th – Final totals for the Mastro Sale were 164 of 225 lots sold, for a premium inclusive total of $324,810.