Lalique "Caryatide" Supports, ca. 1920
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GUEST:
They were given to me by my parents, who bought them in Paris shortly after World War II. They were decorators, and they went to Paris to go to school.
APPRAISER:
Okay, has anyone ever told you anything about them, what they are or who made them or...
GUEST:
I know they say "Lalique" and to me, the mystery, let's say, of the little groove on the top. I don't know their model number.
APPRAISER:
Well, the little groove on top-- and I'll just tip it down a little so we can see it better-- it's there for a reason, of course. They are not, as they may appear, candlesticks. They're simply called "supports," and the correct title of them is "caryatid," as you've discovered, support caryatide, and they were designed to be placed around a centerpiece on a table, and this little groove, rather cleverly, would hold a garland of flowers, natural flowers, which would be tied together rather like a daisy chain and then garlanded throughout them, perhaps in an arrangement of six or eight or so. They are by Lalique, René Lalique. We can see the signature on the bottom of this one, "R. Lalique, France," and they were made in the early 1920s. They were displayed in what is perhaps Lalique's most triumphant affair, the Paris Exhibition of 1925. It's an exhibition from which we get the term Art Deco, in fact, and I think these are an extremely Art Deco pair of supports, or ornaments. They're also very rare. They're in Lalique's signature, clear and frosted, satin-finished glass. They're in very high Art Deco style with, you might say, an Egyptian taste throughout them-- very elegant, very refined, important pieces of Lalique. Now, tell me, have you ever had them valued, or has anyone ever suggested...
GUEST:
No, I've never had them valued. I've only read a magazine article on a pair of collectors in New England, who... and the article on them specifically photographed a pair of caryatids like this.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
But no valuation was assigned to them. Since there's such a wide range of valuations within Lalique, I figured I'd bring them down.
APPRAISER:
Lalique can start at a few hundred dollars-- even the older Lalique-- and go well up. These are in the higher range. I would say today, in a good auction-- they're very much desired by collectors-- they would be estimated to sell for at least $30,000 for the pair and maybe as much as $40,000 or even more. So, great pair, and very exciting to see here in New Orleans.
GUEST:
Excellent. Much higher than actually what I had thought. More in line with what I would like.
APPRAISER:
Well, wrap them carefully when you leave.
GUEST:
I shall.
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