Lalique "Four Frogs" Glass, ca. 1912
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GUEST:
I brought a glass that is labeled "Lalique," and it has the four frogs on it. It belonged to my aunt, and upon her death, I received it.
APPRAISER:
And do you think it is Lalique?
GUEST:
I'm hoping.
APPRAISER:
Well, what you have is an early and rare R. Lalique glass.
GUEST:
Fantastic.
APPRAISER:
And it was made around 1911 to 1912 at Lalique's first glass factory. The first factory was located outside of Paris, and it was opened in 1909. He had really made his reputation as a jeweler, and he was still a jeweler at this time. And the objects that he made at this factory were really small, delicate perfume bottles, glasses such as these, and he was really catering towards the jewelry clientele. Now, the glass that we know he's a little more famous for is the glass that was made in his new factory that opened in 1921. It was there that we see the bigger pieces, and that's really when he was becoming more of a glass maker. At this time, he was really in transition. This is called Four Frogs. You see the four little frogs that are in high relief and have a sepia patina. It was model 3751. It is very unusual. It doesn't really matter that it's only a single glass, but they probably did start out as a set. It was at this time that Lalique would sign the outside of pieces, so a lot of the perfume bottles are signed this way, as were these glasses.
GUEST:
Oh, great.
APPRAISER:
These come up very infrequently. Retail value of this piece would be between $2,000 and $3,000.
GUEST:
Fantastic!
APPRAISER:
Which is in my opinion a lot of money for a glass.
GUEST:
A glass.
APPRAISER:
Because it's not something that was meant to sit on a shelf; it was actually meant to be used.
GUEST:
That's fantastic. I'm very pleased. Thank you.
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