Lalique History

 

The story of Lalique crystal began in the 1870s, when the young René Lalique began his first apprenticeship with jeweler Louis Aucoc while also pursuing study at the School of Decorative Arts in Paris. Learning the nuances of jewelry design and also developing his drafting skills, he quickly developed an acumen for compelling design. He rapidly earned acclaim as a designer working for some of the biggest French jewelry brands of the era, including Bucheron and Cartier, by creating opulent yet organically-inspired pieces indicative of the Art Nouveau era.

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During the 1890s Lalique began to experiment with glass, and by the 1910s he had almost fully shifted his focus to glasswork. At the same time, he was aware of the changing trends, so in addition to embracing glass as a medium, he also absorbed the clean geometry and stylized motifs of the rising Art Deco movement. Incorporating these elements with his parallel play with surface and texture, he became just as masterful designing glass as he had been with jewelry. 

 

​Lalique is perhaps best known for the range of finishes he applied to his glass, including polishing, enameling and frosting which was a particularly successful way of adding depth and emphasis to his designs, similar to the way an artist would use graphite for shading. Though he was not the inventor of the technique he made the most creative use of opalescence within his designs, which involves mixing or injecting a chemical concoction (including arsenic) into the glass, then cooling and heating the glass repeatedly until the area becomes opalescent. René Lalique’s opalescent glass designs are more expensive to collect than his clear pieces, as production stopped following his death in 1945. 

 

After René’s death, his son Marc Lalique took over the glass making operation. Marc changed production to a heavier lead crystal. The designs from this period were marked M.Lalique and later Cristal Lalique and Lalique France.  Marc died in 1977 and passed the business on to his daughter, Marie Claude Lalique. A jewelry designer in her own right, Marie also created her own scents and launched a line of Lalique perfumes in the early 90s. In 1994, Lalique was sold to the French company, Pochet and has since been acquired by the Swiss company, Art & Fragrance.

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