More than 100 exquisite examples of Lalique from a half dozen private collections – one of the largest public offerings of Lalique in New York City in years – will headline Heritage Auctions’ 20th Century Design Auction at 104 East 25th Street, third floor, on Dec. 10.
“This is the best Lalique auction of the year and one of the best in New York for many years,” said Nick Dawes, renowned authority on Lalique and Consignment Director at Heritage. “Collectors will have a full five days to preview the auction and taken in the stunning array of works we’ve assembled.”
Dawes, who joined Heritage earlier this year, has organized auctions of Lalique since 1980 and written extensively on the designer, will be the featured speaker at a lecture on Rene Lalique on Saturday, Dec. 5, five days before the auction. The title of the lecture is The Flora and Fauna of Rene Lalique.”
The 130 lots of Lalique are drawn mainly from six American private collections, including the lifetime collection of Lloyd Glasgow, who began working for the Lalique Company in the 1950s and retired as President in the 1990s. Glasgow, who still lives in New York City, was a close personal friend to the Lalique family and his collection displays the scholarship, taste and dedication to the Lalique company collectors would expect from someone who devoted so much of his working life to the designer.
Other collections in the auction focus on signature pieces from the art of Lalique, including the vases “Tourbillons,” “Oranges,” “Archers” and “Perruches,” with the latter two represented in several colors.
Other impressive vases include a vibrant ‘peacock’ blue “Borrome,” a majestic “Palestre” patterned with neo-classical male athletes, and a selection of popular opalescent pieces including favorites “Ceylan,” “Danaides” and “Formose.””
Lalique perfume bottles are always highly sought after by collectors and this auction features several great highlights of the form, including the rare models “Oreilles Lezards” and “Au Coeur de Calice,” both recently discovered in private hands and appearing on the market for the first time. Also to be offered by Heritage Auctions in New York City is a recently discovered and pristine example of the classic automobile hood ornament “Victoire,” found on a 1935 Duesenberg in the American Midwest, which is the key highlight of the selection of fine and rare mascots.
From a collection devoted to the female nude in the work of Rene Lalique the auction features spectacular examples of the “Suzanne” and “Thais” statuettes in opalescence, together with a variety of statuary including the “Grande Nue” with long hair and a good grouping of plates, bowls and boxes with figural design.
Also unique to this auction is a comprehensive collection of sold-out, limited edition artistic pieces stored by the Lalique Company in recent years, many of which represent the last available example of the series internationally. These will be presented complete with all original packaging and certification, and include the highly prestigious “Cactus” table in amber crystal.
The art glass session will conclude with a collection of Art Nouveau pieces, mainly from Galle and Daum, and another unique collection of artistic glass, mostly in pate-de-verre, directly from the Daum Company archives. This presentation includes three works by the great surrealist Salvador Dali, dating from the 1980s.
“The Lalique and French art glass auction will be the spectacular finale to a full day of 20th century design auctions on Dec. 10, more than 800 lots in all, beginning with more than 300 lots from the lifetime collection of international dealer Michael Playford,” said Christina Japp, Director of 20th Century Design at Heritage Auctions, “and continuing with a session devoted to Dutch modern ceramics.”
Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $700 million, and 475,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HA.com