Lalique

Recognized as one of the world's greatest glass makers and jewelry designers of the art Nouveau and art Deco periods, Rene Jules Lalique was an imaginative and creative artist in all his work.

Lalique's early life was spent in many different types of artistic businesses, acting as apprentice and assistant. This heavily influenced the designs he used in his later life, including his emphasis on glass. He used the most modern and innovative manufacturing techniques and equipment available, allowing more than one glass piece to be made at a time while still looking hand made, which meant his quality jewelry was available to the general public.

Rene Jules Lalique's early life was spent learning the methods of design and art he would use in his later life. He was born on the 6th April, 1860, in the town of Ay, France. 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. 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 Aucoq in Paris, and attending evening classes at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. He worked here for two years and then moved to London to attend the Sydenham Art College for two years. At the Sydenham Art College, his skills for graphic design were improved, and his naturalistic approach to art was further developed. When he returned from England, he worked as a freelance artist, designing pieces of jewelry for French jewelers. Following this, he opened a business in 1885, and designed and made his own jewelry and other glass pieces for the rest of his life.

Many things influenced Lalique's work, including the natural environment, and the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods. The summer holidays Lalique spent at Ay, in France, and the time he spent at the Sydenham College of Art in London, heavily influenced Lalique's naturalistic work. As a result, many of his jewelry pieces and vases showcase plants, flowers and flowing lines.

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