From the Corning Museum of Glass comes Master Class 4:
Pâte de verre with Shin-ichi and Kimiake Higuchi

A Technique first made popular by Emil Galle

The Artists demonstrating Pâte de verre are superb Craftspeople

Emil Galle was one of the leading French Glassmakers.
This video shows a wide range of his stunning work.
Emil was a leading maker of Pate de Verre Glass (lots of examples here) and stunning lamps with hidden and visible landscapes built into them

The video begins with a lovely picture of Emil Galle and his Glassworks and then shows you many of his fabulous creations.

Daum Toothpick holder

I thought this press release would interest you ...
There are some other interesting pieces of news too.

Very rare 2-inch signed Daum Nancy toothpick holder brings $2,700 at Woody Auction sale
A very rare 2-inch signed Daum Nancy toothpick holder, with a winter scene decoration and in fabulous condition, sold for $2,700 at a multi-estate sale held April 4 by Woody Auction. The auction was held in Earth City, Mo., just outside St. Louis.

Rare 2-inch signed Daum Nancy toothpick holder in excellent condition ($2,700).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 20, 2009 – (EARTH CITY, Mo.) – A very rare 2-inch signed Daum Nancy toothpick holder, with a winter scene decoration and in fabulous condition, sold for $2,700 at a multi-estate sale held April 4 by Woody Auction, based in Douglass, Ks. The auction was held at the Holiday Inn Airport West in Earth City, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. The toothpick holder was one of over 430 lots that changed hands at the sale.

“For what it was – an unassuming toothpick holder you wouldn’t expect to sell for all that much money – it did exceptionally well,” commented Jason Woody of Woody Auction. “It was a tribute to the piece’s rarity and condition.” Mr. Woody said about 70 people attended the event and there were around 40 registered absentee bidders. About 170 online bidder numbers were assigned, through Proxibid.com.

“We had a light turnout for the preview the day before the sale, so I was a little nervous about how well we’d do,” Mr. Woody said, “but by the time the opening bell sounded at 9:30 in the morning, a nice crowd had assembled and everybody settled in for a good day of spirited bidding and healthy prices realized.” Headlining the event was the estate of Patsy Cary, a dedicated glass collector from Illinois.

Bidders had much to consider. Offered were miniature lamps, hanging lamps, table lamps, banquet lamps, cameo glass, R.S. Prussia, Royal Bayreuth, Rose Tapestry, Tiffany, toothpick holders and other items. Typical for a Woody Auction sale, all lots were sold to the highest bidder, without reserve. “From lamps to antique glass pieces, this sale offered quality and diversity,” Mr. Woody said.

Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted are hammer prices, exclusive of a sliding commission structure. There are no buyer’s premiums at Woody Auction sales.

The top lot of the sale was a beautiful 16-inch signed Daum Nancy three-color cameo corset-shaped vase with a nighttime tree and lake scene ($3,750. The piece was exactly as featured in the book French Cameo Glass, by Blount. The second highest earner was a gorgeous 27-inch Pairpoint reverse painted table lamp ($3,500), with 16-inch “Seville” shade with tropical foliage and parrot scene décor.

A rare, 10-inch signed Handel ball-shaped hanging hall lamp (#6996), with original hardware and fine parrot décor, brought $3,400; a must-see original kerosene cranberry hobnail light fixture set on a fancy brass frame soared to $3,200; and an outstanding pink opaque quilted hanging lamp with matching font fancy brass frame with two opaque faceted cut jewels, electrified, commanded $3,100.

An extra nice 12-1/2-inch signed Galle two-color cameo vase with white and lavender branch, leaf and blossom décor went for $2,100; a 7-inch German figural stein with a graphic of a man with scars wearing an eye patch, with a lithophane village scene base, topped out at $1,800; and $1,800 was also realized for a signed, fish bowl-shaped Galle vase, smoke-colored, with fancy enamel floral décor.

A pair of lots fetched $1,200 each. The first was an 8-inch signed Devez three-color cameo vase, boasting a beautiful cottage, lake, mountain and vine scene in pink, yellow and blue. The other was a 6-1/4-inch French cameo vase, signed G. Raspiller, with a quality engraved leaf, branch and pod décor. Also, a 10-inch signed Devez three-color cameo cut vase with mountain, tree and lake scene hit $1,000.

An 8-inch figural German bisque miniature lamp with matching shade, showing a cherub lying on a pillow holding a base with two cherubs on the shade, reached $1,075; a 2-1/2-inch R.S. Prussia jewel mold two-handled toothpick holder with green trim, opal jewels and melon eater décor hit $800; and an 8-1/2-inch Czechoslovakia (beehive) portrait plate with portrait of a young woman made $800.

Woody Auction’s next big event will be the sale of The Mr. & Mrs. James Wright Collection of R.S. Prussia, to be held Saturday, May 23, at the St. Charles Convention Center Junior Ballroom (lower level), beginning at 9:30 a.m. A preview will be held Friday, May 22, from 4-6. The Wrights, over the course of their long and fruitful lives, collected many fine pieces. Other consignments will also be sold.

Then, on Saturday, July 11, also at 9:30 a.m., an Antique Auction will be held, at the Sedgwick County Extension Center (4th Hall), in Wichita, Kan. Sold will be pottery, Wave Crest, period furniture, art glass and more. And on Saturday, Sept. 5, also with a 9:30 a.m. start time, Woody Auction will present the sale of The Allan Waldron Collection of American Brilliant Cut Glass, in St. Charles, Mo.

Woody Auction is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, an estate or an entire collection, you may call them directly at (316) 747-2694. Or, you can e-mail them at info@woodyauction.com. To lean more about Woody Auction, log on to www.woodyauction.com. Information and photos for the May 23, July 11 and Sept. 5 sales will be posted as the dates draw near.

Found in Coastal Georgia
A huge hoard of beautiful beads from Florida
(From the time of the Spanish occupation in the 17th Century)
These 70,000 glass and amber beads include Dutch layered Glass,
Chinese Blue Glass,Gilded Glass and French Glass.
An illustration shows Ichtucknee beads thought to come from France
and Venetian multi-layered beads.
The American Museum of Natural History uncovered these during
an extensive research project on St Catherines Island off the coast of Georgia..

The beads were found around the missionof Santa Catalina de Guale
and included many Venetian and French beads ,some of which were grave goods and others
found in the convent.
This is the largest find of beads in a Spanish Mission in La Florida.

This information is from :
http://www.sciencedaily.com:80/releases/2009/04/090409134802.htm

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Here are a few tips on buying Glass at a market or Antique Store.
(I used to run a stall in an Antiques Market so this really IS from the Horses mouth !)

1 - Read all about the exact item you are thinking of buying.
Some items come in different sizes and usually larger one are worth more.

2 Carefully note down the Measurements - Why ?
You need the measurements because a fairly common practice is to have chips or scratches ground off professionally. This usually happens on expensive glass only as it is costly to have this done. If there are chips or scratches or even a piece knocked off the edge of the top or bottom of the glass the when it is ground down this will be right around the piece and it will either be shorter (if the nick is at the top of the glass) or narrower (If it is on the base). This means the dimensions will have changed from the original.There may also be some frosting around the rim (if it is not done carefuly) This drastically reduces the value of the piece.Check the pattern - a common way to remove a scratch is to engrave a frosted area over it. What SHOULD the piece look like - consult the internet for photos of what you are looking for - especially in a large antiques market like those in Lille,Paris or London Portobello Road where you will see many copies of rare glass pieces.
Some people tell you to run your lips around the edge of a glass piece but I do NOT recommend that - for two reasons - You might cut your lip and secondly have a think for a moment how many other collectors. and dealers have recently done the same (shudder !) - I dread to think where some of those mouths may have been....

3 inspect carefully for scratches or other marks. They seriously devalue any piece. Ciips can sometimes be ground down professionally but breaks generally are worthless

4 Look carefully at the signature. Signatures are not an easy thing to check. You need a linen tester to check them (they only cost a couple of dollars and slip into a pocket or handbag easily)
Some glassmakers signed all their work. Others had the person actually making the piece sign for them. (This is why there are so many different Lalique signatures)
Every glassmaker had different ways to sign pieces. Pantin for instance did not sign or mark anything while Lalique had many signatures and markings. You should read up about your favourite glassmaker before you buy. What I do is to photocopy Lalique signatures from books and take thse with me when I am buying.
I really must scan them onto a pda !

5 Fakes often include fake signatures too. Czech and Romanian Fakes often take the easy way out and have sandblasted signatures.Early Glass was either ACID ETCHED (deeply) or engraved.

Romanian copies often have the word Tip engraved alongside the copied signature.
This is often removed with a dental or craft drill by unscrupulous stores but leaves a blank area which if you study it carefully does not look quite right. This often happens with expensive reproduction lamps of Daum and other leading makers.

Remember - the more expensive the piece, the more likely it is to be forged ! Forgers usually only fake expensive pieces.
Everyone gets caught out by buying a forged piece eventually - even experienced dealers and Museum Curators !

I can be regularly found in smaller antiques markets,fleamarkets and arcades of antiques stores.
The latter are good sources as many of the dealers displaying in showcases do not specialise and it is from them that you will usually find the best bargains.

Daum were famous for making Table Lamps and other Art Glassware during the Art Nouveau and Art Deco revolutions in glassmaking.
They were direct Rivals of Galle and Lalique but produced absolutely different styles of glassware.
If you want to see a good collection (small but good !) then visit the Musee de Orsay in Paris where they have a small collection in their Art Nouveau Rooms (strangely enough without Lalique Glassware but with a small selection of his Jewellery)

Daum Freres did not start as a Glassmaking company – like so many good things it happened by accident.

After the War of 1870, Jean Daum who was a Notaire (Notary) in Bishwiller took as payment for a debt the Sainte-Catherine glassmaking company in Nancy France.

Auguste Daum (Jeans son) took over the control of the company and tried to sort out its finances while his brother Antonin took over part of the glass workshops to create his own Art Glass creations in the then fashionable Art Nouveau Style..
This was a stunning transformation and he took much of his inspiration from French Glass artists like Emile Galle , Lalique and other art nouveau artists.. with a huge effect on their business.
They became famous for heir Art Nuveau Lamps which often feature landscapes of a dreamy and almost mystical nature.
These have been so popular that glassmakers from Romania,Hungary and even Taiwan have copied them.

The Daum Art Glass Table Lamps became the Daum Brothers hottest product and they evolved into art glass landscapes (some only visible when the lamp was switched on ).
The most stunning of the lamps had fantastic bronze bases and some even had cameo glass shades (these are highly collectable today by themselves).

The School of Nancy began with Antonin as its vice-president.. because Antonin became a leader in the Nancy Chamer of Commerce and through his efforts submitted 3 thousand pieces to the various International Exhibitions that flourished in those days.
These exhibitions were the most popular way to advertise new products and sell to international markets.

The most popular pieces were those with up to 3 layers which were either acid etched or engraved to preceding layers.

Several famous French glass artists were trained there including:
Jacques Gruber,
Almaric Walter
Henry Bergé
the Schneider Brothers.
Eugene Gall was also the son of one of the Daums Glassmakers.
During this period several new techniques in glassmaking evolved.
Henry Bergé became a Master Decorator

Incredibly beautiful fantasy pieces were made and sold well.
All went well with Daum brothers until the evolution of the Art Deco Style.
Suddenly Daum and Art Nouveau style was unfashionable as were the outrageous and fantasy designs and colours.
Although the company continued with new generations of the family working there (Paul Daum and his nephews) They continued making French Crystal glass until 1990

Nowadays Daum has had a resurgence of popularity.
A group of superb designers has given a really new life to the rather staid company.
The popularity today is due largely to its new ranges of Art Glass which include the Love range – a sensual range of French art glass which even includes a nude Venusian !
There are also crystal French Art Glass animals and birds, Pate de Cristal pieces and so many beautiful works of art in glass that I could not list them all.

Investors might want to consider the current range of French Art Glass pieces whish should be an excellent investment for the future as the limited editions are only between 250 and 500 on average.(some only 50 !)

This is the most exciting range of collection of modern art glass that I have seen and includes many exceptional artists work.
The Collections are :
African Art
Texier ( amazing eccentric animals)
Arman (stunning viewpoints of Venus)
Black and White
Braque (an affordable Braque original !)
Botanics
China
Love
Art
Animal Sculptures
Jewellery (includes a range of Cabochon rings – similar to Laliques best seller !)
Design
Floral
Special Editions

The Daum Website is well worth visiting
Here is a gorgeous mixture of modern design
and Traditional Pate de Cristal (on the Floral and animal sections)
You need Flash installed on your computer to view it properly.
DAUM Website : http://www.daum.fr

Visit the best French Art Glass site.

This is a beautiful Lalique Chandelier - but the chances of finding one in a fleamarket are fairly slim.(not impossible so keep looking !)

Lalique Chandeliers

It is much more likely that you can find an Art Deco Lalique Chandelier (everyone looks for Art nouveau examples ..)
So when you are looking for Laliqe or other majore makers it might be sensible to check out those sometime 1940s chandeliers .

Lalique produced many chandeliers - here are some you may find in your searches.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but has most of the lalique chandeliers that you may come across.

Alger - 7 Winged Chandelier Clear with appled birds and leaves

Atlantique - has 4 Glass Support with clear discs supporting a glass opal box with
Geometrical cubes below - Art Deco

Bandes de Roses - Frosted Pink Glass circular bowl with 4 hoops in pink

Boule de Guy - Froste Orb with applied Mistletoe

Charmes - Circular with leaves in relief

Chrysanthemes - Clear circular glass with a stunning swirl of opal chrysanthemems
and leaves swirling from centre of bowl

Coquilles - Clear glass bowl with opalescent Cockle Shells all round

Coquelicots- 4 support hold octagonal glass box with scallops

Dahlias - Colander shape with large frosted glass dahlias between leaves
in lcear of pink lighty frosted glass

Deux Sirenes - two nude mermaids cavort below a frosted hemisphere -stunning piece.
In clear or Amber Glass (unmistakeable lalique )

Douze Figures - frosted sections of glass with raised nymphs on each section

Eglantines - White frosted bowl with stunning mouldings of sweet briar roses

Etoiles -STUNNING clear Disc with undreds of Gold Stars all over it and dome in centre

Fougeres - Modernistic looking frosted glass with Wings of glass

Gaillon - Frosted bowl with pendant frosted cups

Grande Fleur - Pink opaque bowl with huge single flower and central seeds

Hirondelles - Frosted bowl with panel contasining swallows projecting from the sides

Feuilles de Charmes - Frosted bowl with leaf pattern perles - Lookes like an upside down cake stand .
Radiates to Pearl -like glass beads on both top and bottom parts.
Frosted with clear rim
Lausanne - Frosted Bowl with fruit/birds and leaves

Lierre - Frosted glass opalescent bowl with reliefs of ivy.

Madagascar - (my favourite lalique chandelier) a stunning opaque pale umber dome with a frieze
of beautiful monkey heads all around

Madrid - 4 wings of clear glass with leaf patterns on each

Monnaie du Pape - clear bowl with pattern of leaves.

Moineaux - 4 support of clear glass rings above a square box with frieze of birds and leaves.

Nanking - Geometrical frosted bowl made of interconnecting triangles each with more triangles within itself.

Noisetier - Pendant Dome with frosted glass base and leafy wings above.

Palmes - single support with glass discs holds 4 attached boxes with palm leaf pattern on outside of each

Papillons - Drum Shaped with frieze of butterflies with radiating bowl beneath.

Papillons Plaques - Clear glass bowl in sections with moulded opaque butterflies

Passiflore -Glass opaque ball with passiflora flowers (passion flowers) protruding stamen from each flower.

Ravenne - Art Deco frosted glass looks like a square crinoline with bands.
Pendant border of glass marble like beads and a miniature copy of itself below.

Rinceaux - Art Deco style curves overlapping each other all over the dome. Clear or Gold

Ronces - white or pink frosted bowl with appliqued brambles

Soleil - Blue of clear bowl with geometric pattern and clear domes all over it.

Stockholm 1 - Art Deco Pale yellow bowl with horizontal pyramidic leaves and support of clear glass rings.

Stockholm II - similar to Stockholm I but with geometrical pattern below

Vendome - Elegant saucer-like chandelier with bamboo like support above.

Ville Neuve - Golden Bowl with 4 swags of white opal glass al round. Beautiful.

Veronne -Yellow Opal Glass with leaves and petals like water lily all overlapping

Prices vary wildly.Errors and ommissions excepted. There are reproductions around of Lalique Chandeliers.
I saw many reproductions for sale in the September market in Lille France.
I also saw fake Lalique Chandeliers for sale in Paris fleamarkets last week March 2009 (shiny,shiny - too shiny !)

Remember - if a Lalique chandelier looks new and comes in a sealed box it is probably a reproduction.

I saw several fakes at a Brocantes Fair in Paris last week - and a good few Daum copies too.

Lets be honest about this - a tatty vendor in a Paris fleamarket is really unlikely to have found three Lalique chandeliers (looking like new ) in his travels unless he was very,very lucky !
Regrettably he took in two tourists while I watched (come on now a Lalique Chandelier for 80 dollars !).Caveat emptor folks...

This Article is COPYRIGHT (C) 2009 Keith Jones www.greatfrenchglass.com

Cire Perdue

How It Works -

Bacchantes Vase

 

This Beautiful Vase was designed by Rene Lalique on July 22, 1927 and has been in production at the Lalique glassworks ever since.
It includes full length neo-classical female nudes.

Lalique is one of the main leaders in high quality French Art Glass.

This is why there are so many  copies and reproductions of Lalique.

If you are buying how do you know it is really a Lalique piece?

The most common reproductions around at the moment are from Romania and the Czech Republic.

You may well be offered thees in markets or smaller stores.

Some reproductions of Rene Laliques Glassware are older copies from the 1900s to 1930s.

These are the hardest to spot as they do have authentic signs of age and may well have slight signs of wear that you would expect from that period..

There is no intent to deceive though many glassmakers of that period made glass pieces in what they termed The Lalique Style  .

Rene lalique s work was copied by many glassmakers and these pieces do turn up from attics and basements worldwide.

Etling, Genet and Michon made their own glassware in what they termed the Lalique Style. This was of course an attempt at the time to cash in on the popularity of Lalique.

By terming their glassware Lalique Style they managed to avoid legal action.

Many of these pieces were w=quit lovely in their own right and should be considered collectable as representatives of good quality glassware of the period (but not at Lalique prices !)

If you are looking for Lalique (or Daum for that matter) then this is an affordable entry into glassware collecting.

Just last weekend I saw a lady buying an old  style daum (nearly !)  lamp for just 65 Euro (about 75$) at a Paris fleamarket (30 seconds earlier and that would have been mine !!) So there atill are great bargains to be had (although you would have to get an electrician to re-wire it to make it legal).

Early copies often have discoloured glass due to impurities and they are often made in pressed glass (look for a seam running from lip to base and back up on the other side) These are common in American copies.

Genuine  Lalique always has a signature

Pre 1930 this was R LALIQUE and was engraved.

There are a number of different signatures on genuine Lalique :

R LALIQUE with FRANCE in smaller letter below in a stencilled mark,

R LALIQUE FRANCE in a curve (etched between 1925 and 935)

Moulded marks  R.LALIQUE  FRANCE (smaller letters) and these can be either in Relief or intaglio

Some pieces have the letter L extended below the other letters.

With Scent Bottles there is almost always an etched or engraved pattern number on bothe the base of the piece and on the base of the stopper (MUST be the same !)

After the death of Rene Lalique the R. was no longer placed as part of the mark.

Spurious marks exist where the letter R has been etched or engraved to make the piece look older.

Pieces after 1919 bear serialized numbers from 1 upwards with the last 2 numbers after the dash being the year of manufacture.

DO NOT rely solely on the signature - fakes do exists.

Instead weigh up the quality and design of the piece - Lalique really does stand out a mile !

Modern copies are made with the lalique signature  so look out for those.

Research by looking in museums and dealers.
(By doing just that I bought a 15th century buddha bronze in a flea market in London.)

.

You should use a UK BlackLight. This will show you any repairs or restorations but more importantly it will make old glass flouresce.

To Test Glass :

Pre 1945 Lalique flouresces YELLOW
Reproductions  do not flouresce at all or they flouresce a bluish white.

However all colourless American pressed glass flouresces yellow .
It is easy to see pressed glass and cristal is easy to see visually.

Fakes abound in French fleamarkets and these usually come from Hungary.They come with certificates of authenticity ... faked too !

St Ouen Marche aux Puces in Paris is absolutely full of reproductions of lalique  and you should only buy Lalique there from a member of the French Antique Dealers Federation.

 Fakes abound in  the huge street market in Lille in Northern France in September. 

(On the first weekend in September al the inhabitants of Lille clear out their attics and basements - they have a legal right to do so).There is much fake glass and 19th century and earlier reproductions of all kinds (pottery,paintings,copperware etc.). Suprisingly good quality reproductions.

You can still get Lalique in  Belgium where many original Lalique pieces are to be found. These mainly appear in provincial markets and from dealers.

Look out for the  Sunday Market in Brussels  (go early to get bargains) this is a great place to find all kinds of old French Glass .

In London you can try at :
Portobello Road (Fridays  are really for Trade) Saturday for the Public
Bermondsey Market (Early Friday Morning - well before 6 for bargains !)
Camden Market on Wednesdays
Grays Market in Mayfair.

Parisian  Fleamarkets are absolutely packed with vintage and antique glassware but the pieces that I saw recently (Marh 2009) 90 % is of cheap pressed glass - often at expensive prices.

Try French Provincial Markets rather than ones in Paris.

The watchword is definitely Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)

Try to get old of a French magazine called Aladdin  this features Antiques Fairs,Brocantes (a sort of French antiques fleamarket) and also the same name is used a second hand antiques/collectables dealer to be found at the edge of most provincial French Towns) .
If you are going to France then try to get a copy of the magazine as it has excellent articles about identifying real and fake antiques of all kinds.

You can subscribe for Alladin on the Internet and it has not only very usefula and informative articles on all kinds of antiques but dozens of pages of small ads both for buying and selling antiques and collectables.

 

Our Lalique sections :

All Lalique
http://www.greatfrenchglass.com/Store/lalique

Lalique Bowls
http://www.greatfrenchglass.com/lalique/lalique-bowls

Lalique Big Cats
http://www.greatfrenchglass.com/lalique/Lalique-bigcats

Art nouveau Lalique
http://www.greatfrenchglass.com/lalique/lalique-nouveau

When you click the All Lalique Section even more sections will  open for you.

Our other website about Lalique has expanded sections on Jewelry and Glass.