Description

Specialties

• Bijoux sculptés
• Medallist
• Use of Champlevé & Plique-à -Jour enamel was unrivaled.
• Art Nouveau pioneer, leading jeweler of the Belle Epoque.

Materials

• Horn.
• Crystal.
• Enamel.
• Cut glass.

1860

• Birth of René Lalique

1876

• Apprentice to Louis Aucoc at age sixteen.

1878

• Studied graphic design in London.

1880

• Worked with Auguste Petit.
• Designed fans, fabrics and wallpaper.
• Independent designer for Aucoc, Sestape, Cartier, Gariod and others

1882

• Independent jewelry designer.

1884

• Lalique’s Arts & Crafts exhibition catches the eye of Alphonse Fouquet
• Went into business with M. Varenne – signed Lalique et Varene, rue de Vaugirard 84

1885

• Begins fabricating in the style that would make him famous.
• Place Baillon location of Destape assumed by Lalique
• Creates for Cartier, Boucheron and Vever

1887

• Boucheron buys ‘Flight of Swallows’ Parure.
• Relocates to rue du Quatre Septembre, then rue Therése

1889

• Exposition Universelle features his work anonymously in Vever and Boucheron’s displays.

c.1890

• Begins experiments with glass and enamel, developing his new style

1894

• Designer of jewelry for Sarah Bernhardt & Maison de l’Art Nouveau.

1897

• Legion of Honour’s Croix de Chevalier.

1900

• Lalique displays at Universal Exhibition (Paris) to great acclaim.
• Grand Prix, Order of the Legion of Honour

1905

• Opens at Place Vendôme

c.1908

• Begins to operate Combs-la-Ville Glassworks

1918

• Founds Wingen-sur-Moder Glassworks

1925

• Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels exhibits “The Springs of France”.
• Begins manufacturing objet and statuettes in the “Lalique” Style.

1945

• Death of René Lalique.
• After his death, firm Run By Son Marc and later Marie-Claude.