René Lalique: Master of Art Nouveau Jewellery & Art Deco Glass ONLINE VIA ZOOM

Although Lalique is best known for his Art Deco glass of the inter-war years, his career began in the early 1890s as the designer of the finest Art Nouveau jewellery. Patronised by Sarah Bernhardt, Lalique created stunning pieces of jewellery from gold, horn, glass and enamel. He preferred opals and aquamarines to flashy diamonds and his jewels were about design and craftsmanship rather than vulgar ostentation.

As his fame spread, his style was copied and debased until Lalique felt that he had exhausted the potential of jewellery. At that very moment, around 1907, the perfumer Coty asked Lalique to design some labels for his scent bottles, but Lalique went one better and designed a new stopper – he had created the first customised perfume bottle. The public loved the idea and a craze began. Soon Lalique was designing for Worth and other famous perfumers. After the war,Lalique extended production into decorative vases, tableware, lamps and even architectural glass. All his glass was press-moulded but of the highest quality. He survived the Depression with car mascots and paperweights. Lalique died in 1945 but his company is still going and his glass regarded as some of the finest ever created.