www.laliquemascots.com

Lalique mascots/Hood Ornaments/Bouchons de Radiateur Mascottes:

Herewith a selection of some of the Lalique car mascots that we are privileged to offer the connoisseur collector. Photos of all of them are available by e-mail to you on request or by enclosing a s.a.e. ( stamped self addressed envelope ). Also we recommend that you take a look at The Lalique Mascot Collectors' Club website where all of them are listed with photographs at:
http://www.brmmbrmm.com/lbcc.bb








Summer 2013


We bring you the wonderful world of Lalique...


With the high demand for Rene Lalique's masterworks of the inter-war period. We are now promoting the post-war and 'modern' made car mascots now marketed as paperweights / presse-papier and signed 'Lalique, France' ( pre 1945, prior to Rene Lalique's death all were signed 'R.Lalique' ). For those collector's interested in the inter-war period Lalique car mascot production, please visit: http://www.laliquemascots.co.uk


Background history...

Rene Claude Lalique was born in the small village of Ay opposite the Marne river in the Champagne region of Epernay in France on April 6th 1860. As a child he showed an interest in all aspects of art and sculpture.
In 1862 his family decided to move to the outskirts of Paris to try to better themselves. In 1872, Rene started further education at the College Turgot where he studied drawing with Justin-Marie Lequien. At the tender age of 12 he won the highest award for design at the college.
In 1876, after the death of his Father and at the age of 16, showing a keen interest in art and design he began an apprenticeship with the famous jeweller Louis Aucoc in Paris. He attended the College of Decorative Arts at the same time and won an award for drawing. In 1878 he moved to England to continue his studies at Sydenham College in North London for two years. He returned to Paris in 1880 and was employed as an illustrator of jewelery creating designs for some of the foremost perfume houses in that city. In 1884 Lalique's drawings were accepted for display at The National Exhibition of Industrial Arts at The Louvre. In 1885 when he was just 25 and after studying sculpture and textile techniques he set up his first workshop in the Place Gaillon in Paris, taking over the Jules Destapes' concern., then another workshop was rented in 1887. There he was designing jewellery using semi precious stones with ivory and later crystal glass with coloured enamels. In 1889, at a display at The Paris Universal Exhibition, the jewelery firms of Boucheron, Cartier and Never among others included collaborative works by him in their displays. By 1890 he acquired new more extensive premises at Rue Therese and was by now employing around 30 staff. He became a very close friend of the shop foreman, Ms.Briancon of whom he worked very closely with.
By the early 1890's crystal glass became prominent in Lalique's jewelery, and in 1893 he won second prize in a competition set up by the Union Centrale des Arts Decoratives in Paris.
His work was one of the main attractions of the Paris International Exhibition at the turn of the century. Gaining more & more appreciation, he was appointed Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur at the age of 36.
Lalique's beautiful jewellery soon gained notoriety with many rich personalities of the day, including stars of stage & screen. Sarah Bernhardt took a great interest in his designs and commissioned many pieces. ( As now with the likes of Madonna and actresses as Kim Cattrall and Liza Minnelli who ordered 300 of their cut crystal glass tumblers on her 2002 wedding day ).
Lalique opened his first retail shop in 1905 in the Place Gaillon in Paris.
The year 1906 brought Lalique to the attention of Cote who commissioned designs for their perfume bottles. The demand for them was so high that Lalique looked for larger premises and ended up right next door to the Cote concern in the Place Vendome in the centre of Paris!
Footnote: Some very interesting perfume bottle labels designed by Rene Lalique were brought to our attention that are kept in the archives library of The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. These show the very decorative Art Nouveau period designs typical of this time created by the fertile mind of Rene. Photocopies can be scanned and e-mailed to any interested party.
Also in 1906 Vincenzo Florio commissioned him to design the award trophies for the famous Targa Florio endurance races. The designs of which were of particularly fine decoration with a flock of swallows and flowers picked out in coloured vitreous enamels with a base relief gilt racing car rushing by. This one piece cost the princely sum of 5,000 gold Francs, or some £20,000 in today's money!
Lalique also designed the medals for the competitors, these were to be awarded in gold for the winner, silver for the runner-up and bronze for the third winning car. They depict a contemporary period racing car with the driver & riding mechanic racing through the Sicilian mountains with the legend 'Targa Vincenzo Florio 1906' within the casting at the base. These medals are extremely rare as due to the poor conditions of the course and due to the fact that there was a dock strike in Sicily meaning that only 10 cars were shipped over for the race out of the 23 entered! The winner of the race was Alessandro Magno an Italian driver followed by fellow Italian Ettore Graziani both driving Italia's. Note: Both the silver & bronze medals were on display at the 'Unique Lalique Mascots' exhibition held in London from 21st to 25th September, 2011.
Tragedy struck Rene and his family when in 1909 his beloved wife Augustine Alice Lalique-Ledru died.
Lalique continued to experiment with glass manufacturing techniques and produced enough wares to display at a special exhibition in 1911. During the beginning of the first world war Lalique closed his factory. Post-war he built a new factory at the site of Wingen-sur-Moder, in the Alsace region and was producing crystal glass from 1921...and continues there today!
In 1925 his works were the star attraction that year at the "Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes" ( the term 'Art Deco' for short, is now commonly given to this period ). His fabulous standing woman forming the central display in a working fountain 'La Source de la Fontaine', no doubt helped to elevate him to the rank of Commander of the Legion d'Honneur. By the 1930's the company had grown so large that 600 employees worked on Lalique products that were now being sold around the world.
Lalique was and is known for producing an extensive range of jewellery, watches, cut glass and moulded Chrystal glass decanters, vases, bowls, animals, birds and special commissions for famous department stores around the world., ocean liners including the incredible Art Deco interior of the SS Normandie and exclusive trains which include the Pullman carriages of the famous Orient Express. Mention must also be made of a 'complete' church interior on the Isle of Jersey in the British Channel Islands.

Bouchons de Radiateurs...

Where we are concerned here are the car mascots of which a great demand was created for the rich & famous of the inter-war era, known as the Art Deco period.
These adorned the hoods and radiator caps of the most prestigious marques from all over the world at that time. An original edition of 28 different car mascots were produced which included stylized animals, birds and other creatures.,some adapted from the paperweight ornaments being produced at the time and then re-introduced and adapted to fit onto the special metal mounts made and marketed by the Breves Galleries in Londons' Mayfair ( this was the one & only British retail outlet allowed to promote and sell them ). To quote from their 1928 catalogue "The Motor Mascots designed by Lalique achieve a rare combination of beauty and distinction. They are moulded from a special glass, untarnishable and almost unbreakable. At night, their charm is enhanced by concealed illumination in soft colours...Among all the famous artists in glass, there has never been such a consummate master as Rene Lalique. For Lalique not only possesses a rich imagination and an unerring sense of form - he has an extraordinary faculty for exploiting the colour and texture of the glass itself. His versatility is astonishing. He can be delicate, fantastic, bizarre or vigorous, yet his style always harmonises with the subject, and the originality of the true artist marks all his work".
The first mascots were adapted from his two Mermaid paperweights shown in his 1920 catalogue and were not intended for any specific make of vehicle, however Rene was inspired by the comet shooting star illumination on the top of the Eiffel Tower during the 1925 Paris Exposition, what he came up with was the superb rendition of the Comete Etoile Filante (shooting star) introduced to the market on the 24th August 1925.
Rene was approached by Andre Citroen to produce a suitable car mascot to adorn their new 5CV., what Rene came up with next was the classic 5 prancing horses that was very appropriate for the car of the same name! This was introduced onto the market on the 26th August 1925...
Soon the rich & famous were seeking-out Lalique's car mascots to adorn their radiator caps on such exotic makes as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Bugatti, Lagonda, Napier, Invicta, Railton, Mercedes, Voisin, Isotta Fraschini, Hispano-Suiza, Delahaye, Delage, Duesenberg & Cord etc. Today you rarely see them fitted onto the above makes, the exception being at classic car events and Concours d'Elegance., such as the regular prestigious Summer events at the Louis Vuitton Hurlingham club and Goodwood Cartier Style et'Luxe etc. No doubt they can also be seen at overseas events as Pebble Beach in the USA*.
On May 5th, 1945 Rene died at the age of 85., he is buried in Le Petre Lachaise cemetary in Paris. His son Marc took over untill his death in 1977, and eventualy his daughter Marie-Claude Lalique Dedouvre assumed control untill she eventualy sold her interest in the company and retired in the USA in 1994, she died on April 14, 2003 at the age of 67., she is buried in Fort Myers, Florida. The company continues as a family run business...
to this day. The few car mascot designs of today are now marketed again as paperweights / presse-papiers decorative ornaments.
We are privaliged to be able to offer the connoisseur collector a unique opportunity to purchase these beautifull works of art as adornment and also a sure-fire investment portfolio for you now and in the future...
Footnote:
On Rene Laliques death many praises and eulogies were heeped upon him, however one stands out and is memorable because it came from his life long patron & friend, the Armenian oil billionaire Calouste Gulbenkian, who said "He ranks among the greatest figures in the history of art of all time". This was praise indeed by a connoissseur collector of such great artists as Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Rodin and many others.


The Lalique connection...

After many years of study Mr. Geoffrey George Weiner** has become an expert on all things 'automotive', specialising in classic car memorabilia including car badges and motoring mascots. After attending the Paris Retromobile show in early 2003 and seeing a wonderfull and unique ( private collection ) display of Lalique car mascots all in glass cabinets lined up in the main hall., a desicion was made to make an appointment with Lalique at their Paris HQ. Seeing that they said that the early car mascots were almost un-obtainable, this set the challenge & quest...
Taking a keen interest in the work of the Lalique family of master craftsman, starting with Rene, continuing with son Marc and ending with his grandaughter Marie-Claude and of course still continuing to this day...
The whole range of car mascots that they produced in chrystal glass and are still producing, using the same methods today. The range is greatly reduced., as for example Hirondelle / Swallow. Quoting from a company press release of 2008: "It was the 10th February 1928 that Rene Lalique creates the car mascot Hirondelle. Lalique car mascots were used as radiator caps to adorn cars at any time as they were lit at night. The Swallow representing freedom and speed and was one of his favourite birds as he coud see them migrating when he was a child living in the French countryside of Champagne. He also did a vase bearing the name 'Swallows' and transfomed the car mascot into book-ends in 1937. After eighty years the making of his piece comes to an end which renders it very collectable".
At Lalique however inside knowledge was gained at a special and exclusive private viewing for the pre-Chelsea Flower Show display in 2004 at a Champagne reception attended by many of Lalique's Paris HQ excecutives. Since then the Tete d'Paon / Peacocks Head along with Grand Libellule / Large Dragonfly, Vitesse, Victoire and Longchamp 'B' have been re-introduced ( as presse-papier / paperweights ), not only in clear glass but also in several coloured versions! We were informed of this and more besides in the pipeline...

*Talking about the USA, while on a trip to the Hershey swopmeet in Pennsylvania we came accross many reproductions of Lalique's car mascots. To the expert eye there is nothing to worry about as one would soon see faults and moulding marks, re-finishing etc. on them., besides which inferior glass is used as it would be impossible to re-create the quality of a 'genuine' Lalique piece nowdays as to the costing of these! Most are produced in Eastern Europe. Buyer beware as if any have spurious signiatures on them, as world copywrite laws cover them and customs officers have the right of confiscation and prosecution!
Modern Lalique is signed ( after inspection and acceptance of the piece ) using an etching tool. The signiature in script should read 'Lalique France' with a circuled 'r' in beween, meaning registered.
If you are concerned or need expert advice please contact us or any reputable specialists or auction house.

**Mr. G.G. Weiner is a consultant on automobilia for the Miller's Collectables Handbook 2010-2011 ( featuring many Lalique car mascots, RR & Bentley mascots and others ). He is also a consultant & valuer of automobilia for a well known UK auction house. He is working on a reference book himself due to be published in the new year on Unique Lalique Mascots.
Another important 'highpoint' for his portfolio was appoinment as consultant in the very prestigious Rolls-Royce Centenary celebrations in Montreaux, Switzerland, where a Rolls-Royce presentation car mascot commissioned by RR from Lalique was auctioned for a world record price!
Ref: The Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation & The Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, sponsored by Horus Sur Mesure and Bullionaer at Le Montreaux Palace Hotel function & Auction hosted by Dr. Neugebauer on 13/2/10.

For 2011 a very special exhibition was held in London featuring most of the mascot output. This was organised & presented by Penman Fine Art & Antiques Fairs in association with the Lalique Mascot Collectors' Club and held from 21st to 25th September at Chelsea Old Town Hall, Kings Road, London SE3 5EE incorporating a special bubbly reception evening by r.s.v.p. which was a resounding success!

Note: It was very appropiate to hold this exhibition in London in celebration of Rene Jules Lalique's 151st anniversary of his birth as he studied here in his formative years. A full review of this retrospective is posted on the Lalique Collectors' Club website.


Car mascot & presse-papiers listings using the Lalique factory reference numbers, those marked thus# are now discontinued and because of this now command a premium on the original retail price. The Lalique factory signed all their works 'R. Lalique' up until Rene Lalique's death in 1945, however some were still struck from the same moulds and so still had this pre-war signature not being discontinued until 1947 and a few even up to 1957! Post-war to modern pieces are usualy signed in scipt 'Lalique France' with a small circuled 'r' in between for 'registered'.

The ( modern ) Collection, all are in Lalique's famous grey logo box ( Cristal Lalique, A'Paris ) with lining and cut-out sponge support for the item. Each one has a certificate of authenticity. Note: Some discontinued# items may no longer have the box. The 1950's & 60's items may no longer have the box., however we do dispatch all items bubble wrapped in a strong box.

Photos: We have photographed each one listed and can of course e-mail these to you on request. If you prefer we can send any photos ( at 50p each, refundable on purchase ) in the post to you if you enclose a stampled self addressed envelope to us.


Cristallerie Lalique et Cie:

No.11800 Coq Nain/Full Cockerel £650

No.11801 Elephant £650

No.11802# Sanglier/Wild Boer £550

No.11802# Sanglier/Wild Boer with its original Lalique factory label as issued in the 1960's £595

No.11803# Perch/Fish in clear & frosted finish £375

No.11803# Perch ditto (1980's production) £395

No.11803# Perch ( 1960's production ) in opalescent blue £1,250

No.11803# Perch (1960's production) in opalescent milky blue with an orange tint when held up to the light £1,750

No.11803# Perch (1960's production) in dark to light green £950
Note: that this has a very slight slither chip to top of dorsall fin, original value £1,550

No.11806 Bison £495

No.11807# Tete d'Coq/Cockerels Head £995

No.11808 Tete d'Aigle/Eagles Head £595

No.11808 Tete d'Aigle/Eagles Head pair of bookends mounted onto Lalique signed opaque glass bases £1,950

No.11809 Chrysis/Leaning back female nude ( clear & frosted ) in box with certificate £650

No.11809 Chrysis (in black satin finish) ditto £775

No.11809 Chrysis (in amber tint) ditto £675

No.11810# Hirondelle/Swallow bird boxed with certificate £695
Also available as a pair of bookends in special double compartment box £1,550

No.11815 Chouette Hibou/Barn Owl £250

No.11876 Tete d'Paon/Peacocks Head (clear & frosted) boxed with certificate £695

No.11876 Tete d'Paon (green tinted) ditto £795

No.11876 Tete d'Paon (deep cobalt blue colour) ditto £795

No.11876 Tete d'Paon (yellow gold metalflake tinted) ditto £795

No.11905 Leda/Young girl holding a swan (in box with certificate) £350

No.11905 Leda (1960's production greyish coloured) £395

No.11906 Diane/Young girl hoding a doe/small deer £350

No.11907# Faune/Entwined pair of woodland nymphs £350

No.11907# Faune (1950's production greyish coloured) £395

No.11309 Naiade/Water nymph as a paperweight/desk ornament (1980's production) in its box with papers £395

No.11309 Naiade/Water nymph as a trinket tray dish (1980's production) £395

No.100393 Grand Libellule / Large Dragonfly (re-introduced in 2009) in clear & frosted chrystal £995 and in 'Ocean Blue' tinted colour. A blue version is now in stock, boxed with certificate at £1,250 discontinued (2013)... so now is a good time to buy these magnificent pieces!

No.10066400 Vitesse/Speed Nymph (re-introduced Autumn 2010) in satin & frosted cristal /chrystal. Boxed with certificate. £695

No.10108200 Victoire/Victory or Spirit Of The Wind (re-introduced Winter 2010) in clear & frosted cristal/chrystal. Boxed with certificate. £795

No.10119400 Longchamp/Horse head based on the second version catalogue model 'B' (re-introduced Spring 2011) in clear & satin finish crystal. Boxed with certificate. £495

No catalogue number issued for Reverie serre-livres verre (pair of glass bookends) by Chrystal Lalique. Extreemly heavy cast pair of female nudes pushing against large blocks forming the bookends. This limited edition has one tiny chip to the base of one of them, you would have to hunt hard to find it! However they would retail in excess of £4,000 when new. These are sold in their original grey Lalique box complete with the certificate of authenticity. £3,550


BROCHURE: Would you like our brochure? This is based on the original Breves Galleries inter-war brochure and is fully illustrated in colour. We can mail this to you if you would be so kind as to send a large s.a.e. (stamped self-addrerssed envelope) to us.


DESCRIPTIONS: The details and descriptions of our goods are fair, accurate and honest to the best of our ability and comply with the Trade Descriptions Act of which U.K. law applies.

PAYMENT can be made by sterling cheque ( within the UK ) or by bankers draft in sterling, by bank transfer into our account. We also accept PayPal. The only cards we take are American Express and Diners Club charge cards. Please make out payments to: C.A.R.S. (U.K.) and for PayPal account please make payments out to: carsofbrighton@virginmedia.com

DESPATCH of goods to any part of the world, insured or registered post. We ensure that your collector's item is properly wrapped in tissue and packed with bubble wrap the box is then well wrapped with a printed label to its destination.
You may of course pay and pick-up from our premises...

You may wish to visit us to view the collection for yourself. In this case please contact us for a prior appointment with us at our gallery at The White Lion Garage.
CCTV is in operation both inside & outside of our premises (the imagies are never given to any third party apart from demand from the emergency services in exceptional circumstances, where English law applies).

Links:

http://www.brmmbrmm.com/lbcc.bb

http://www.laliquemascots.co.uk

http://www.glassfairs.co.uk

LALIQUE DEICATED CAR MASCOT WEBSITE This has many images of them that are rotated on a monthly basis, so go to: http://www.collectfair.co.uk Then click onto 'Powered by Collect Fair' and then put 'Lalique mascots' into the search box...you're love it!


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