Added And Swapped Material! What Is This Part Doing Here?
A great R Lalique piece suffers some damage. Or a part is damaged or lost. If it's a part, most commonly, it's a stopper on a perfume bottle or decanter, a shade on a lamp, or the top to a box. When this happens, sometimes repairs are not possible, or getting it repaired is not feasible due to cost or other factors, and the owner is left with finding a presentable replacement part. Sometimes an entirely new piece is created by adding new parts to an authentic R Lalique piece to create a whole new object. For example, a perfume bottle or atomizer is turned into a lamp! Many times the swapped or new part or new object looks perfectly normal, especially to the untrained eye, and upon just a cursory examination it looks like it's an entire authentic original. But this is not a problem for the informed R Lalique buyer that knows what to look for, and knows what she (or he) is paying for.
Your ideas, comments, added photos of existing alterations you see here, and suggestions for future alteration examples are welcome and appreciated. Please email any and all observations to Info@RLalique.com. Please review the Photo Submissions Guidelines when emailing us any photos.
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This Rene Lalique Decanter Bottom was sold with several different design stoppers. The stopper shown is not one of them and is not an R. Lalique item. Care should be taken when buying an R Lalique decanter with this bottom to be sure the stopper is correct! |
Real Decanter - Replaced Stopper |
Replaced Stopper Close-Up |
The Real McCoy* |
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Real Bottle - Replaced Stopper |
Replaced Stopper Close-Up |
The Real McCoy* |
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Real Bottle - Lamp Not RLalique |
Replaced Fitting Close-Up |
An Original Epines Perfume Bottle |
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* "The Real McCoy" as a phrase, meaning the authentic or real thing, has at least a dozen claimed origins. Many people who study this subject focus on two possibilities: First, the one with the most adherents among "where did this phrase come from" scholars (lexicologist? etymologists?) is the phrase "The Real MacKay", which appeared in the Scottish National Dictionary in 1856 "A Drappie o' the real MacKay" (loosely translated into current Arizona English as "A Drop of the Real McCoy" :). This phrase found its way to Ireland where it morphed into "The Real McCoy". The great author Robert Louis Stevenson (who among you has not read Treasure Island? if not The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) is quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary as using the phrase "He's the real Mackay" in a letter in 1883. The second contender (yes, pun intended, read on) for the source is the 1896 American Welterweight Boxing Champion Norman Selby, who's ring name was Kid McCoy. Back in the day when fighters would tour towns and cities, doing boxing booths and matches at fairs and carnivals, the story goes that Selby had so many imitators doing local fights making a buck off of using his name around the country, that he began to bill himself in his flyers and advertisements as Kid "The Real" McCoy. Which is the true source? Take your pick, or search the internet for any other one you find more interesting!
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