René Lalique "Deux Figurines" Clock, ca. 1935
Watch
GUEST:
It's been passed down from my great-grandmother, who I believe purchased it, and to my grandmother, to my mother, and then my mother gave it to me before she passed away.
APPRAISER:
It's in wonderful condition. Do you know who made it?
GUEST:
Down here, I finally saw the etching, and it's René Lalique.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and where was he from?
GUEST:
Well, it says right here, "France."
APPRAISER:
Okay. Well, this is a very popular clock that was first introduced in around 1926. It's called "Deux Figurines," which means two figures. And it is the quintessential Art Deco clock.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It was very popular in the United States, and they sold quite a few of them here. This one is made out of clear and frosted glass. The glass is molded. And the frosted design of the two ladies and the festoon of flowers that surround the clock was made by acid etching the surface of the clear glass. The two figures are dressed in classical drapery, sort of Grecian costume. And this is a very Neoclassical look that you would see during the Art Deco period-- both in France, or even in the United States. It does illuminate. The base actually has lightbulbs in the base. When this is plugged in, both the clock and the lights come on at the same time. You have a little switch over there. That switch has been replaced. It probably had a thicker knob at one time. But this particular clock, I would say based on the bottom of it, or the platform, that this was not made in the '20s, but probably closer to 1935. The earlier bases were made out of gilt metal, and they had a little decoration on them. And the later bases were chrome, which is what you see here. These hands, there was a question of whether or not they had been replaced.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
But what we realized is that if you see examples of this clock, oftentimes the hands vary from one to the next. The hands were made by a company called Ato, A-T-O. And they supplied the hands for Lalique, and so this could have just been a later version of the hands.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
In terms of value, because there is some replacement here, but it is in very nice condition, I would put a value in a retail shop of $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
Oh. (laughing) Very nice. That's great.
Appraisal Details
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