Lalique brooch with plique ajour enamel signed

René Jules Lalique - The "Rembrandt" among the jewellers (6 April 1860, Ay, Marne – 5 May 1945, Paris) was a French jewelry and glass designer known for his creations. (The original glassware firm he started and named still remains successful.)

Lalique's early life was spent learning the methods of design and art he would use in his later life. At the age of two, his family moved to a suburb of Paris, but traveled to Ay for summer holidays. These trips influenced Lalique's later naturalistic glasswork. In 1872, when he was twelve, he entered the Collège Turgot where he started drawing and sketching. With the death of his father two years later, Lalique began working as an apprentice to goldsmith Louis Aucoc in Paris and attended evening classes at the Ecole des arts décoratifs. He worked there from 1874-1876 and subsequently spent two years at the Crystal Palace School of Art Sydenham, London.

At the Sydenham Art College his skills for graphic design were improved, and his naturalistic approach to art was further developed. When he returned from England, he worked as a freelance artist, designing pieces of jewellery for French jewelers, Cartier, Boucheron and others. In 1885, he opened his own business and designed and made his own jewellery and other glass pieces. By 1890, Lalique was recognized as one of France's foremost Art Nouveau jewellery designers; creating innovative pieces for Samuel Bing's new Paris shop, Maison de l'Art Nouveau. He went on to be one of the most famous in his field, his name synonymous with creativity, beauty and quality. (from: Wikipedia)

Antique jewelry object group: brooch

Condition: good condition
  -  (more info on our condition scale)

Country of origin: France

Style: Art Nouveau - Art Nouveau (French for New Style) is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art - especially the decorative arts - that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century (1890–1905).

The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art". It is also known as Jugendstil, German for "youth style", named after the magazine Jugend, which promoted it, and in Italy, Stile Liberty from the department store in London, Liberty & Co., which popularised the style, and in Holland as “Sla-olie-stijl”, Dutch for “salad oil style” after a advertisement poster for this product that was made in that style.

A reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it is characterized by organic, especially floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly stylized, flowing curvilinear forms. Art Nouveau is an approach to design according to which artists should work on everything from architecture to furniture, making art part of everyday life. Although Art Nouveau fell out of favour with the arrival of 20th-century modernist styles, it is seen today as an important bridge between the historicism of Neoclassicism and modernism.
  -  See also: Art Nouveau or more info on styles

Style specifics: Art Nouveau - Although Art Nouveau took on distinctly localised tendencies as its geographic spread increase some general characteristics are indicative of the form. A description published in Pan magazine of Hermann Obrist's wall-hanging Cyclamen (1894) described it as "sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip", which became well known during the early spread of Art Nouveau.

Subsequently, not only did the work itself become better known as The Whiplash, but the term "whiplash" is frequently applied to the characteristic curves employed by Art Nouveau artists. Such decorative "whiplash" motifs, formed by dynamic, undulating, and flowing lines in a syncopated rhythm, are found throughout the architecture, painting, sculpture, and other forms of Art Nouveau design.(from: Wikipedia)

Period: ca. 1900
  -  (events and facts in 1900)

Source of inspiration: Mother Nature (see also: flower symbolism)

Material: 18K red gold
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Technique: Plique-à-jour, (French for "braid letting in daylight") is a vitreous enamelling technique where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to cloisonné, but with no backing in the final product, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. It has a stained-glass like appearance and is considered very challanging technically. (From: Wikipedia)

Extra information: Originally, most probably, this is one piece of a so-called dog collar and made into a brooch. A dog collar is neck piece that goes tight around the neck and could have several decorated ornaments (like this brooch) held together with little strings of pearls. In a later period this ornament is made into a brooch. There could be several reasons for this, ranging from one piece perhaps being broken or, also not uncommon, split into several wearable pieces after an inheritance. The remains of the signature are still clearly visible on the picture. We bought this piece together with this other Lalique brooch, where the complete signature is still clearly visible.

Diamonds: 94 rose cut diamonds. We do not have the weight of the diamonds which is normal in our trade when it comes to rose cuts.

Birthstones: Diamond is the birthstone (or month stone) for April.
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More background information on: Lalique, René,

Signature: Lalique (see pictures)

Hallmarks: No trace.
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Dimensions: 4,60 cm (1,81 inch) x 2,75 cm (1,08 inch)

Weight: 15,10 gram (15,10 dwt)

Reference Nº: 12255-0080

Copyright photography: Adin, fine antique jewelry

See also our:
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