The Fragile Art: Extraordinary Objects from The Corning Museum of Glass
Rene Lalique: Enchanted by Glass (CHRYSLER)
Particle Theories: International Pate de Verre and Other Cast Glass Granulations
Not On View
Interpretive Notes
This cast pendant was made by Lalique when he occupied his studio on Rue Thérèse in Paris. During the 1880s and 1890s, he made jewelry exclusively; his last major jewelry exhibition was in London in 1905. When he rented a glassworks in 1908, Lalique turned his attention to the production of his famous perfume bottles and, later, vases and other decorative items. His jewelry designs earned him an international reputation. He designed pieces for many fashionable celebrities, including the actress Sarah Bernhardt.
Physical DescriptionColorless glass with dark (appearing black) details, internal copper leaf layer giving salmon appearance to overlaid glass; colorless glass has been molded and backed with thin sheet of copper which in turn has been coated with glass; possible engraved details; pendant braced in back by metal crossbar. Large roughly triangular-shaped pendant depicting two facing ruffed birds in high relief in colorless and black-appearing glass (black faces, beaks, wing tips and bodies); heads, ruff, and upper wing areas engraved or molded in detail; area between birds has dark shading and low relief hatching; talons of birds form circular opening from which hangs a large Baroque pearl with gold backing; thin layer of copper backing entire pendant shows through glass to give salmon-orange appearance which is especially strong and metallic looking in head and ruff areas where there is no dark shading; back of copper covered in layer of fused dark glass that tapers to edge of copper sandwiching it between front and back; broad central area of back appears to have been slightly flattened (possibly while hot) and has matte surface; back braced by a metal crossbar that wraps to four points: necks of both birds, top of circular opening and point where beaks meet where it connects to a chain consisting of eleven pairs of rectangular gold bars with translucent brownish enameling linked by three circlets; circlet clasp; unsigned; possibly worn French poinçon on back of pearl mount. Provenance
