René Lalique Art Déco 2 Colombes Clock in Glass

About the Item

R. Lalique has designed several clocks. Some for his own galleries, some for classical clock makers who wanted to introduce glass in their window displays. This clock was made by Lalique for the famous Art Deco clock maker ATO who made essentially electrical clocks or batteries running clocks like this one. The clock has its original system which has been converted to quartz. The luxury version of the clock has black enamel numbers like on this example. The opalescent glass is perfect and its color is strong in opalescence. The clock's production of Lalique is not very large. The subjects often belong to the birds's world illustrated by smaller or larger clocks in white or opalescent glass which eventually could be enameled or in colored glass. The quality of the glass is as most of the time with Lalique, excellent. The signature is moulded I capital letters on this example.

Creator:

René Lalique (Manufacturer)

Dimensions:

Height: 8.67 in (22 cm)Width: 6.7 in (17 cm)Depth: 6.3 in (16 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Glass,Molded

Place of Origin:

France

Period:

1920-1929

Date of Manufacture:

1926

Condition:

Seller Location:

SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR

Reference Number:

Seller: 2 colombes1stDibs: LU7643231574572

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Shop All René Lalique

René Lalique

The career of the famed jewelry designer, glassmaker and decorative artist René Lalique spanned decades and artistic styles. Best known today for his works in glass, Lalique first won recognition for his jewelry. He was described as the inventor of modern jewelry by the French artist and designer Émile Gallé, and his luxurious naturalistic designs helped define the Art Nouveau movement. Later as a glassmaker in the 1920s and ‘30s, Lalique designed vases, clocks, chandeliers and even car hood ornaments that were the essence of Art Deco chic. Even now, the name Lalique continues to be a byword for a graceful, gracious and distinctively French brand of sophistication.

Born in 1860 in the Marne region of France, Lalique began his career as a jewelry designer in the last decades of the 19th century. His work employed now-classic Art Nouveau themes and motifs: flowing, organic lines; forms based on animals, insects and flowers — all rendered in luxurious materials such as ivory, enamel, gold and semi-precious stones. By 1905, Lalique had begun creating works in glass, and his style began to shift to a cleaner, sharper, smoother, more modern approach suited to his new medium. His Paris shop’s proximity to perfumer François Coty’s led him to experiment with beautiful perfume bottles. He offered the first customized scent bottles, transforming the perfume industry. By the end of the First World War, the artist had fully embraced Art Deco modernity, devoting himself to new industrial techniques of glass production and designs that manifest the sweeping lines and the forms suggestive of speed and movement characteristic of the style. Lalique’s work looked both backward and forward in time: embracing ancient mythological themes even as it celebrated modern progress.

Late in his career, Lalique took on high profile luxury interior design projects in Paris, Tokyo and elsewhere. He designed decorative fixtures and lighting for the interior of the luxury liner Normandie in 1935, and decorated the salons of well-known fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet. Today, Lalique’s influence is as relevant as it was when he opened his first jewelry shop in 1890. In a modern or even a traditional décor, as you will see from the objects offered on these pages, the work of René Lalique provides the stamp of savoir-faire.