Lalique "Six Figurines" Glass Goblets with Box, ca. 1930
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GUEST:
My parents were given these for their wedding in 1954 from an old Army buddy of my dad's.
APPRAISER:
And do you know where the Army buddy purchased them or may have acquired them?
GUEST:
I... That I'm not sure of. I know he was overseas, but I'm not sure where.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm. What we have here is a set of six Lalique. It's molded glass with gray patina. And it's a set of goblets in the Six Figurines pattern. It was designed in 1911, which is right when Lalique is doing a mass production of these items that they're selling in their shop out of Paris, and they're going all over the world and becoming very, very popular. So this was kind of his Art Nouveau period. So it's right before he, his Art Deco period, which he's most known for, in the 1920s and into the '30s.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Each one will be signed on the bottom. And we see here that it's engraved "R. Lalique." And that means René Lalique.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So that's when René was still alive and still working with the company. Um, after he passed away in 1945...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...they changed the signature, so it would just say "Lalique France." So we know that we can date these to pre-war period because of how they're signed. And then they continued producing these probably up until the '40s. Because we don't see any that have occurred with the other kind of signature, so we don't think that they were produced past the 1940s. So that's kind of interesting and cool.
GUEST:
Right. That's cool.
APPRAISER:
A lot of old designs they continue and still produce them today.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So these are more of a limited set. There was also a decanter and there was also a vase in this pattern. And so you could mix and match if you wanted to purchase them, if you wanted to purchase as a set, or if you wanted to purchase things individually. Tell me about the box!
GUEST:
Uh, well, it's in the original box. My parents kept it in a safe all these years. So...
APPRAISER:
They didn't use them?
GUEST:
No, never.
APPRAISER &
GUEST:
(both laughing)
GUEST:
No, I hardly ever even saw them, so.... (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Oh, gosh, well, they're wonderful. And they've got this great patina. It's got the original box. For Lalique collectors, this is something that would be very desirable. At auction, these would likely bring between $3,000 and $5,000 today.
GUEST:
Oh, that's so cool! (laughs) Yeah. Awesome!
APPRAISER:
The box does add some value to it. Um, and we always say, you'll probably get an extra bid or two just because it's in the original box.
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