8
30th June 2012
london selection Lalique back in the mix
■ Decision to include Lalique in 20th century design auctions appears to bear fruit
Gabriel Berner reports
BONHAMS (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) have integrated Lalique back into their broader mix of 20th century design auctions after their first stand-alone sale in 20 years produced patchy
results last November. Specialist Mark Oliver said the decision
was based upon a disappointing return on lots pitched at the lower and middle range, which hampered the November sale’s selling rate, with fewer than 50% of lots finding buyers.
Going on the latest results for Lalique
Right: Martin Brothers large bird jar and cover, sold for £26,000.
from Bonhams’ 189-lot decorative art sale held on June 12 in New Bond Street, the change appears to be the right one. Of the 50 lots offered, all bar 13 sold, to total £364,000, down slightly on the stand-alone November sale but produced from 152 fewer lots. The section also contributed just under half of the £759,750 sale total, with seven Lalique pieces featuring in the
top ten lots. Demand for Lalique has stepped
up again in recent years with the market currently awash with plenty of moneyed private buyers based mainly in America, France, Britain, Russia and South Africa. New buyers to Lalique
in particular are incredibly competitive, looking to build collections at the higher-end of the market (in excess of £5000), which goes some way to explaining the lack of demand for middle- and lower-range lots at
Bonhams’ November sale. Personal taste is also a factor which
can make it an unpredictable market at times and some pieces fluctuate greatly in price as a result. As a general rule, Lalique values are
linked to scarcity determined by such factors as length of production, colours, special finishes, subject matter and the quality of the moulding. Condition is paramount in this collecting field and can greatly affect prices. The most sought-after pieces of Lalique tend to be René Lalique’s cire perdue works – unique creations cast by the lost-
Below: a rare and unrecorded Robert Wallace Martin early stoneware bedwarmer modelled as a tortoise sold for £38,000 – the top price at Bonhams.
Above: this Lalique black glass Montargis vase took £36,000 at Bonhams on June 12 and right: an unrecorded and possibly unique Lalique Frise Aigles clear glass vase from 1911 – £35,000.
wax process where the mould is broken in use (see this week’s International Events for an example which sold at Christie’s New York). Bonhams’ offering contained a variety
of different colour series predominantly dating from the 1920s, when many of Lalique’s designs were originally created, and included a number of higher-range plain, opalescent and coloured versions. Over a third of the lots were guided at the high end, with estimates of £10,000 or more. The top lot in this section was a black
glass Montargis vase designed in 1929. Measuring 8in (21cm), the piece was estimated at £15,000-20,000. Black glass is among the rarest colours in this collecting field and, says Mr Oliver, is tough to source. This example was not the most exciting of Lalique designs, but it still proved desirable to a number of parties including a museum. In the end, however, it sold in the room to a European collector for £36,000. Almost equalling this price was a Frise
Aigles clear-glass vase designed in 1911, measuring 12in (31cm) and decorated with an early cameo technique overlaid with red and black enamel. Probably unique, it was unrecorded in Felix Marcilhac’s Catalogue Raisonné published in 1989 – the bible for any Lalique enthusiast. It had a substantial chip to its base, which was reflected in the low £5000-7000 estimate, but this did not hamper the price and it sold to another continental buyer for £35,000. A 10in (26cm) high caramel-coloured
Archers vase from 1921 was another highlight here, selling just above top estimate for £19,000. Matching this sum, although pitched at a higher £18,000- 22,000 estimate, was a slightly earlier
1919 electric blue Perruches vase in the design of budgerigars measuring 9in (25cm). The price was marginally higher than an identical version in the same colour which sold at Bonhams for £17,000 in November. Getting away below estimate, but
selling nonetheless, were several other higher-valued lots. These included a strong opalescent
Bacchantes vase designed in 1927 (and still in production today) which took £24,000, a 1921-designed Poissons vase in red glass which fetched £23,000, and a top bid of £19,000 for a clear-
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