Lalique Crystal Company History

When it comes to defining elegance and affluence as a lifestyle, Lalique crystal comes to mind for most people. From its earliest days to present times, the Lalique Company has consistently tantalized the world with its exquisite glass and crystal depictions of themes that include flora, fauna and the beauty of the female form. Although largely classified as realism, the Lalique Company also integrates symbolic themes in the form of stylized objects that reflect the beauty of nature.

History

René Lalique was born in the former Champagne Province of France in 1860. He apprenticed under the jeweler Louis Aucoc when he was 16 and went on to attend Sydenham Art College of London in 1878. Upon his return to France, Lalique studied various art forms, such as sculpture and jewelry design, and took on prestigious clientele prior to founding his workshops. His high-profile client list included stage actress Sarah Bernhardt and Calouste Gulbenkian, a renowned Armenian businessman.

Lalique-Coty Collaboration

During this time, perfumer François Coty worked nearby and commissioned Lalique to design attractive labels for his perfume bottles. In a short time, Lalique moved from that endeavor to the actual design and creation of glass perfume bottles for Coty's company. The collaboration of these 2 men revolutionized the perfume industry when they began to present Europe with an attractive package for a number of Coty's fine perfumes.

The Factories

In 1909, following a highly successful venture that revealed the possibility of mass production, Lalique opened his first glassworks factory in Combs-la-Ville. Throughout the flourishing Art Nouveau era, Lalique's factory produced many crystal works of art like perfume bottles, inkwells, vases, bookends and decorative boxes. Due to the enormous rise in popularity of designs by René Lalique, a larger glassworks factory was opened in 1921 at Wingen-sur-Moder in the Alsace-Lorraine region.

Expansion

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Lalique's glassworks began to include designing and manufacturing interior décor for several ocean liners such as The Ile de France (1927), The Paris (1921) and, most notably, The Normandie (1935). In that same time period, his company was commissioned to design elements for several buildings and railroad companies. Examples of this work were present in Los Angeles's Oviatt Building and the famous Orient Express Railroad's dining cars.

Mark Lalique

René Lalique died in 1945 at the age of 85. The company was taken over by his son, Mark Lalique who had his own set of beliefs about form and beauty. Seeking to enrich the output of Lalique mass-produced glassworks, Mark began to use lead crystal rather than glass in production. This move cemented Lalique's place in the history of elegant crystal forms of art and remains one of the most popular crystal companies in the world.

Marie-Claude Lalique

Mark Lalique's daughter, Marie-Claude, assumed control of the company in 1977. She was an artist with a talent for infusing the illusion of movement into her glass designs. She also developed the famous frosting technique that makes even large scale-produced Lalique crystal true works of art. With this marriage of innovation and tradition, Marie-Claude heightened the popularity of an already successful company until she died in 2003. Lalique crystal is still produced today in that same factory at Wingen-sur-Moder.