Lalique, René Jules (1860 - 1945)

French goldsmith, jeweller and glass designer, an outstanding figure in Art Nouveau design. After attending the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and following his studies in London, he designed jewellery for famous Parisian firms. He set up his own workshop in 1885. He exhibited at the Salon in Paris from 1894 onwards; after that he took part in several exhibitions at home and abroad, winning numerous prizes and wide acclaim. He became world-famous at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900, when his work was awarded a Grand Prix. His favourite materials in designing jewellery - beside gold and precious stones - included horn, enamel and glass: substances that he readily experimented with. In addition to his favourite floral and faunal motifs (different flowers, fruits, insects, fishes, etc.), he frequently depicted female figures. He opened his own shop at Place Vendőme 24, Paris in 1905. He gradually turned his attention to the various uses and applications of glass: in 1908 he rented a glass manufactory near Paris, and in 1918 he founded a glass manufactory in Alsace (Wingen-sur-Moder), which is still been in business. His ’’architectural glass” employed in the fashioning of interiors is of paramount importance; e. g., the interior design of the ocean liner Paris in 1920, the glass doors and top windows of the Claridges hotel in London in the 1930s, and the glass walls and lighting of the luxury liner Normandie.