Rene Lalique

René Lalique

René Jules Lalique, he was born in Ay, a small French village on 6 April 1860 and lived until 5 May 1945, was a renowned glass designer. He became known for his stunning creations of perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks and in the later part of René's life, automobile hood ornaments.. He started a glassware firm, named after himself, which still remains successful. René Jules 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 due to his father's work, but traveled to Ay for summer holidays. These trips to Ay influenced Lalique's later naturalistic glasswork. In 1872, when he was twelve, he entered the College Turgot where he started drawing and sketching. With the death of his father two years later, Lalique began working as an apprentice to the goldsmith Louis Aucoc in Paris, and attended evening classes at the Ecole des arts décoratifs. He worked there for two years and then in 1876 moved to London to attend the Sydenham Art College for two years.

The Dragonfly Woman corsage ornament by René Lalique was crafted with Gold, enamel, chrysoprase, moonstones and diamonds.   These materials show how expensive his work costs.   The ornament is in the shape of a dragonfly with a female torso and gryphon claws.

René Lalique concentrated on developing elaborate jewellery using such material as horn, ivory, precious metal and enamels. In his settings he avoided using the large, showy rubies and diamonds that were popular at the time. In an attempt to expand the boundaries of jewellery design, Lalique began to experiment with glass. He produced his first all-glass object in the early 1890s, and, after that, glass came to dominate his output.

There are many different characteristics of the design movement Art Nouveau.   Four of these characteristics are: curving lines that characterize Art Nouveau, right-angled forms are also...