RENÉ LALIQUE
By Robert Mueller

René Lalique’s Art Deco glass is one of the most sought after art glass. René Lalique’s designs in Art Deco and architectural glass competed with Mr. Carder’s similar stylistic tenure at Steuben.

René Lalique was born April 6, 1860 and would make many different types of glass during 1890-1937. He would also be designing in the most creative and richest era of art glass making.

Mr. Lalique, at the age of 20, won first place for drawings of sculptures. Now having a taste of competition in the arts field, he would engage himself creating jewelry. But as the years went by Mr. Lalique started to get a taste of glass making.

Mr. Lalique would open his glass shop in Wingen , France . He, like many other glass makers, would develop a great range of art glass. He would produce color, translucent glass, opaline, black, smoke, jade green. He developed considerable tableware items. Goblets, wines, carafes, tumblers and ice buckets were just the start.

He also produced items that Mr. Carder would later experiment with. Things like Cire Perdue, Lost Wax and Diatreta. As you will see in the picture link http://www.kddk.com/alans/Lalique_1.pdf Mr. Lalique produced a fair amount of Cire Perdue.

As we approached the Art Deco Era we would see two glass makers really become twins in their production, but still are different enough. The nude figures, shapes, designs would show some similarity but after that they went their own ways.

With many companies competing during the Art Deco era I feel Carder and Lalique were heads and shoulders in the forefront of the competition. Mr. Lalique had the ability to show us what he felt was the taste of the public at that time in France , as did Mr. Carder in America.

One thing that has interested me a great deal about Lalique Glass was his “radiator cap ornaments” he made for car hood ornaments. There was a radiator located in (of all places) the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The two kinds of vehicles that used the Lalique ornaments were Rolls Royce and the Pierce Arrow. One thing that was of interest to my mother and me about these ornaments was my mother’s uncle who was, as she put it, a “a swinging bachelor” who was in his 40’s, and owned a Pierce Arrow convertible with a glass ornament on the hood. She remembered the car for only that reason.

Lastly, one other item that would get great recognition for Mr. Lalique would be his architectural glass he produced. Shown in the attachment are two great examples that show what Mr. Lalique could create for the center stage of buildings built at that time. The “Fountain of Architectural Glass” at The Rond Point in Paris demonstrates wonderful elegance and imagination. http://www.kddk.com/alans/Lalique_1.pdf

In my opinion, if you compare Lalique to Tiffany, Galle , Stevens and Williams, René Lalique was at the head of the class of famous glass makers.

In choosing between Frederick Carder and René Lalique, well I still feel Mr. Carder is the best, but I feel it is very close. Mr. Carder’s Art Deco and his architectural glass puts him ahead of Mr. Lalique. I believe these are clearly the two best glass makers.

Robert Mueller
Osseo , Minnesota
January 15, 2010