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René Lalique is without a doubt, the most important jeweler of the Art Nouveau period. His work was innovative for its time in many ways. The influence of nature on his work, his use of unconventional materials and techniques, and his unique themes were all imperative to his eventual success. As a leader of the Art Nouveau movement, Lalique’s work is ground-breaking and extremely unique.French poet Gustave Kahn, in answering the question, “Prior to René Lalique, what was jewelry?” gives a perfect answer: [Jewelry was] obviously ornament, but also a crude kind of luxury. Themasterpieces of his predecessors, all founded on the brilliance of diamonds, seemed like portable cathedrals of light…The old jewel was based upon the idea of wealth; the new is built upon an artistic idea.

Collar with cocks Chanticleer

In the top tier of Lalique’s jewelry creations, made before his turn to mass production of glass, are the René Lalique unique Serpents motif objects. Two great variations of this striking Lalique Jewelry design are in world-class museums and their survival provides a great chance to compare and contrast follow-on implementations by Lalique of one of his most amazing design ideas.The piece most often appearing in exhibitions and photos around the world is the 9 Serpents pectoral owned by the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. This amazing piece was acquired by Calouste Gulbenkian directly from René Lalique in 1908 and it resides in the museum specifically built to house the collections he amassed during his lifetime, including his collection of over 150 of the works of René Lalique.

The Gulbenkian Serpents creation is classified as a pectoral instead of a brooch due to its amazing size of 21 cm, or over 8 inches long. A similar piece to the Gulbenkian’s was exhibited in 1900 with strings of pearls hanging from the mouths of the serpents.

But another great Serpents motif jewelry piece also appears at exhibition from time to time, this one owned by the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg Russia. The Hermitage is housed in the former Winter Palace of the Czars, and contains over three million art objects in its collections including several works of René Lalique. The Hermitage Serpents design takes the form of a pendant, and features 6 Serpents, two of which retain the natural pearl in their mouths, so often used by Lalique in his jewelry.

Purse with Two Serpents. Gold, silver, antelope skin, silver thread; 23.1 x 17.9 cm. Private Collection.

His “Purse with Two Serpents” (1901-03) created for Sarah Bernhardt has a clasp of two angry striking serpents cast in silver which guard the contents of the purse.  According to Stephen Harrison, Lalique’s use of fighting snakes as guardians for the contents of a purse references not only the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the general mood of titillation that was central to Art Nouveau.  The work’s realism is underscored by the slippery-looking snake skins embroidered into the bag’s surface with silver thread.

The Victorians loved snakes; both Queen Victoria’s engagement and wedding ring were snake designs! The snake, at least to the Victorians, symbolized unity and eternity, a notion that probably stemmed from the ancient symbol of the ouroboros, or the serpent eating its own tail.

George Fouquet (1862–1957)

This wonderful Lalique Pendant appeared in New York in the sale of the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor Jewelry as Lot Number 281 estimated at $40,000 - $60,000 (Sunday, December 18th, 2011); a not so hidden gem amongst the raft of big gemstone offerings. When the hammer came down, the total sale price including buyers premium was an over 10 times estimate $566,500.

Cattleya OrchidHair Ornament,Private Collection, Cleveland Museum of Art

In the 19th Century, a passion for tropical orchids overtook Europe and people became practically manic in their interest which drove prices to incredible heights.Missions were sent to the tropics for collecting orchids to satisfy this passion for exotic plants.Lalique’s ability to immortalize the delicate orchid in ivory must have been mesmerizing. Around the turn of the century, he created a number of orchid hair combs which attest to his complete mastery of the material.The “Cattleya Orchid” carved from a single piece of ivory has creamy petals whose lacey ruffled edges are so thin they are translucent. The piece is enhanced by pale green cloisonné leaves with veins of diamonds

Text: InternetPictures: Internet & Daniela IacobCopyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Ewa Podles - Di tanti palpiti (Gioacchino Rossini –Tancredi)