The name of M. Rene Lalique arises instinctively as soon as one begins to discuss the Art Nouveau jewel. He was the renovator, or, preferably, the creator, of the Art Nouveau as we know it nowadays, and one can easily understand the enthusiasm and the admiration aroused by his work. M. Lalique was almost as celebrated as M. Edmond Rostand; and he at least deserved his celebrity, for he was a real, a very great, artist. And such he must indeed be to be able to make one forget his imitators, many of whose productions are as detestable as copies can be. At times even – most unjustly, I admit – one almost comes to hate the art of M. Lalique himself, so persistently is it badly imitated. One has been constrained before now to hate Raphael, on seeing a Cabanel or a Bouguereau! But enough of that!
Art Nouveau Comb in Horn, Silex, Black Enamel and Obsidian with Insect in Gold. By Rene Lalique.
The jewels by M. Lalique reproduced during the latter part of the Art Nouveau period were rather different, both in conception and in treatment, from his usual manner. Here he appears as a more direct observer of Nature, more devoted to simplicity and breadth. His new combs, with pansy and sycamore leaf motifs, in horn and silver – especially the exquisite one with sycamore seeds in horn, silex, black enamel, and obsidian, with golden insects here and there – show him to have been still anxious to extend the field of his experiments, never tired of seeking fresh subjects and testing new materials. Instead of remaining stationary and falling asleep at his post, he was spurred by a desire for conquest, and shows himself ever fertile in imagination, of infinite fancy, constantly advancing, with undiminished freedom and originality.
Exerpts by Gabriel Mourey
Tagged as:
Art Nouveau,
Combs,
enamel,
French,
Gabriel Mourey,
gold,
jewelry,
obsidian,
Rene Lalique,
silex
