Description
Before devoting himself to glass, Lalique was an important jewelry designer. Combining such materials as ivory, horn, glass, and semiprecious stones, all chosen for their visual appeal, with gold and diamonds, he created flamboyant masterpieces of Art Nouveau jewelry. In 1909, Lalique rented a glass factory at Combes-la-Ville, near Paris, where he made perfume bottles. The following year, he acquired another factory in Alsace, which he used for the mass-production of glass using a press-molding technique. Working in a balanced, highly stylized manner that anticipated the Art Deco movement of the 1920s, Lalique designed a diverse range of products that included car hood ornaments, lamps, bottles, vases, ashtrays, and room fittings, as well as jewelry.
The molded glass of this oblong brooch forms a scene of several grasshoppers. The turquoise coloring comes from the pigmented resin underneath the glass. The brooch is framed by marcasite stones set in copper, zinc, and nickel alloy.
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