René Lalique "Iris" Bracelet

Created in 1897, this highly important René Lalique Art Nouveau iris bracelet is composed of 18K gold, shaped opals, and enamel. It is formed of five large links of high relief, each designed as a basse taille enamel iris in shades of purple and violet, with varying subtle green and blue undertones, variously framed by opal panels and negative spaces, within flowing and sinuous surrounds of chased and engraved gold leaves. A fusion of French sensibility and masterful technique with the transformative influence of Japanese art, this beautiful work is one of Lalique's first jewels to act as a powerful conduit of Art Nouveau ideas.

Item #: BA-21459
Artist: René Lalique
Country: France
Circa: 1897
Dimensions: 6.75" length, 2" width.
Materials: 23 shaped precious opals; Basse taille enamel; 18K Gold; With original signed and fitted brown Morocco box with address for 20 Rue Thérèse
Signed: LALIQUE; maker's mark; French assay marks
Exhibition History: Masterpieces of 20th Century French Jewelry, The Forbes Galleries, New York, September 20-December 31, 2006, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, February 10-June 10, 2007, Catalonia. p. 36. Art Nouveau 1890-1914, V&A, London, April 6-July 30, 2000, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., October 2000-January 28, 2001, Catalogue p. 28, Item 15.3 The Jewels of Lalique, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York, February 3-April 12, 1998, International Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. May15-August 16, 1998, and Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, September 13, 1998-January 10, 1999, Catalogue p. 17, Item 53. René Lalique, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, October 22, 1991- March 8, 1992, Item 225. The Belle Époque of French Jewelry 1850-1910, Bayerische’s Nationalmuseum, Munich, December 1, 1989-March 4, 1990, Catalogue p. 219.
Literature: According to Vever, the bracelet was exhibited in the Salon of 1897 where Lalique was awarded a first class medal. Also: Art et Décoration, 6, 1899, p. 16. Revue des Arts Décoratifs 20, 1900, p. 243. Henri Vever, French Jewelry of the Nineteenth Century, 1906-1908, vol. 3, p. 707. René Lalique: Schmuck und Objets d’Art, 1890-1910, by Sigrid Barten, 1977, p. 447, cat. no. 1239 and 1239A. The Belle Époque of French Jewelry 1850-1910, Michael Koch, Evelyn Possémé, et al., 1989, pp. 218-219. The Jewels of Lalique, Yvonne Brunhammer, ed., 1998, p. 16.