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.)

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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.