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Mechant Mais Charmant Perfume Bottle

Rene Lalique Mechant Mais Charmant Perfume Bottle information and photos at RLalique.com are tied together on this main Mechant Mais Charmant Perfume Bottles page. Past and future auctions, historical details, sales, copies, reproductions, articles and more are all accessible from here. This page grows as more info is added to the website.

Note: Méchant Mais Charmant directly translates in French to naughty but charming. But as a phrase in common use it's more like naughty but nice. It's the name of 1 of the first 2 fragrances for which the bottle was created.

Also Note: This bottle was produced by Lalique in two sizes: approximately 7.5 cm and 10 cm.

Also Note: The bottle was later produced by another glassmaker for Jaytho. The later version does not have the molded R. LALIQUE FRANCE signature to the underside. Instead the underside is molded only MADE IN FRANCE or MADE IN FRANCE BOTTLE. We've seen two of these later made bottles that were reported to be 7.6 cm and 6 cm. Of course there may be other sizes out there. Obviously you want examples you first determine are authentic but with the molded R. LALIQUE signature as shown in several of the listings on this page. The bottle also has the molded vertical JAYTHO to one of the leaves in the lower row. You can see that in the 2023-11-25 listing below in the first photo in that listing.

Also Note: All six items Lalique designed for Jaytho were tulips. However this bottle and a 5-compartment tester (center compartment is for powder) were the only two items actually produced by Lalique. A 15 cm bottle, a 12.5 cm bottle, a powder box, and a powder jar were manufactured by someone else from the very beginning and never by Lalique.

Also Note: This bottle was designed in February 1927. The 5-compartment tester was in July 1927. In-between, in May 1927 Lalique designed the Tulipes Vase for Maison Lalique. We see this a lot where he's working on a design for a specific purpose, but he creates other models at the same time or soon after using the same subject but with a different interpretation. When you compare the vase to this bottle, you'll see that the much larger canvas enabled Lalique to create a striking and detailed well-spaced implementation of tulips that we view as a triumph of decorative arts design in the early era of industrial production.

Also Note: Here's a U.S. Antiques Roadshow Mechant Mes Charmant Perfume Bottle appraisal video from 2008.

Also Note: For other Tulipes themed models, see the Tulipes Decorations 1, 2, 3, and the Tulipes Sconce.