The Chicago Antiques Guide Blog
Lalique? (Not) Vase -Lamp Conversion
Posted Saturday, December 15 by Brian •
I was given a few item's from my Great Aunt & Uncle The First is a glass lamp, I was told by a friend that it should be insured. I've searched on all my item's, only to come up with a whole lotta nothing! Can you tell me what kind of lamp this is? How much it might sell for & to whom I might sell it? Thank you for your time! Sincerely, Jamie
Although the glass part of the lamp appears to be a Cherry vase by Lalique from the 1930's, the piece is either a reproduction or a fake. It is called a reproduction in Warman's Lalique book by Mark F Moran.
But, commenter Craig Orkney states in his comment, "The vase was never produced by Lalique. It is a Czech piece produced by Barolac. It is pattern number 12111, and made from the 1930s to 1970s at Rudolfova hut. The moulds were then transferred to Rosice, and manufactured there until 1996. It is shown on the website Lalique.com as a fake Lalique item." I couldn't find any reference to fakes on their site, but it could be there and I missed it.
Taking all of this information into consideration, it would appear that the original vase is neither a fake nor a reproduction, but a vase made by Barolac that has falsely been attributed to Lalique. This has been done knowingly by some trying to pass it off as Lalique with a fake signature.
So, I will officially stand corrected by Craig, and will revise my original response below.
To make the vase into a lamp, a hole was drilled into it to allow for the electric cord. Fortunately, in this case a piece of Lalique was not sacrificed. I don't ever recommend making a vase into a lamp, but if you must, there are ways of making a vase into a lamp without drilling or otherwise damaging the piece, but none of them look quite right. If you must make a vase into a lamp, choose a method that will not affect the original piece's value, or realize that it will greatly reduce any future appreciation.
A lamp identical to yours sold on Ebay 4/22/06 for $62.
