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The following article was originally printed in Adornment Magazine, a periodical published by the Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts (ASJRA).

Famed Art Nouveau jeweler René Lalique created ornaments infused with mystery. This theme is most famously captured in his dragonfly/woman jewel created for Calouste Gulbenkian in 1897-98. The melding of mystery and beauty in this oversized brooch ornamented with plique-à-jour enamel and featuring bejeweled wings is breathtaking. Fantasy is a frequent theme in Lalique jewelry with his arresting pieces often including partial female bodies and heads alone or joined with other creatures as in this piece.

He designed jewelry for just ten years... Yet, within that short time, René Lalique gifted the world with the most extraordinary and enigmatic jewels.

Symbolism and hidden meanings may be a component of Lalique's mysterious works. What was in Lalique's mind when he was designing his wonderful body of work we may never know. He may have been influenced by the Symbolist movement in art, literature and music, which used symbols that were hard to decipher by the layman. Or he may simply have been attracted to the beauty of fantastical designs. He designed jewelry for just ten years and even before the Art Nouveau movement faded away by 1915 he had already turned to glass-making. Yet, within that short time, René Lalique gifted the world with the most extraordinary and enigmatic jewels.

The figure appears to be in motion. This “whiplash” line was a hallmark of Art Nouveau design, with women for the first time shown seductively as the dominant theme in many pieces of jewelry.

A previously uncatalogued necklace, “the property of a gentleman,” came to auction in December 2017. It depicts a curvaceous woman in profile in a gown of creamy gold, which glistens in the light. The figure appears to be in motion. This “whiplash” line was a hallmark of Art Nouveau design, with women for the first time shown seductively as the dominant theme in many pieces of jewelry. She is ethereal with a golden face and her pinned up hair flowing. Her right hand is raised and she holds two flutes, playing them both at the same time. This is an unusual subject for Lalique. The instrument is a diaulos, a popular musical device in ancient Greece. Even the woman's diaphanous white gown and uplifted hairdo suggests the ancient past. In this respect, it's a little unusual for an artist who did not reference the historical past all that often. 

We can imagine the music from the flutes being dreamlike as the woman stands at the improbable location of the meeting of the heads of two mirror image enameled fish with their mouths open and their tails raised upwards. The background shimmers in plique-à-jour enamel. The coloration of the fish, including its fins and eyes, are enameled in an aquamarine color with an aquamarine stone hanging from the point at which the fish's gaping mouths meet. The necklace was made c. 1900 and is three inches long. A fully enameled link chain completes it and it was offered in its original box. 

In November 2017, a month before this beautiful pendant necklace was sold, a sale of 45 pieces of Lalique jewelry from a little known collection broke world records with highly competitive bidding. The most expensive lot sold was an enamel, diamond and pearl pendant necklace which brought $978,480, against an estimate of $131,000, setting two new world auction records—for a piece of Art Nouveau jewelry and for a piece of jewelry by Lalique. 

[Becker] wrote that “just as Lalique countered the obsession with pearls and diamonds with more quotidian materials, today there's a glimmer of a reaction against gemstones and jewels as a show of wealth, and a quest among serious collectors for a new definition of preciousness, substance, symbolism and above all, soul.”

A week after that sale, British jewelry historian Vivienne Becker wrote an article for the Financial Times of London titled “Nouveau Wave: Falling in Love with Lalique Again.” In it, she posits that a sea change in jewelry is taking place with a return to the natural world as influence departing from the geometric and linear one that had been in favor recently (Art Deco jewelry). She wrote that “just as Lalique countered the obsession with pearls and diamonds with more quotidian materials, today there's a glimmer of a reaction against gemstones and jewels as a show of wealth, and a quest among serious collectors for a new definition of preciousness, substance, symbolism and above all, soul.”

It is clear that the mystery surrounding the work of René Lalique continues to fascinate and beguile more than one hundred years after it was created.

David Jonathan Bromer spent his childhood a block from the ocean in Miami Beach; I grew up 1,500 miles north, also a block from the ocean, in Winthrop, Massachusetts. We met through a mutual friend when David was a junior at M.I.T. and I was a sophomore at Emerson College. At nineteen years old each, we were certain we would be happy together, so we married in 1962. David completed his doctorate degree at M.I.T. in metallurgy and worked in the field of science for ten years. We dabbled in collecting and selling rare books as a hobby until we were able to fulfill our dreams and become full-time antiquarian booksellers. 

In 1980, David and I moved our antiquarian book business, operating under the name of Bromer Booksellers, to Copley Square, Boston. We specialized in “The Book Beautiful,” as coined by T.J. Cobden-Sanderson in his 1900 publication, The Ideal Book. All the elements of creating the ideal book, from text to handmade paper, illustrations, calligraphy, and binding, unified to form a beautiful book. Book design of the Arts & Crafts period, c. 1895-1915, especially captured our interest. In 1993, we were gifted a small estate of gemstone jewelry from David's family, which had us thinking about the link between book designers and well-designed jewelry.

In 1993, we were gifted a small estate of gemstone jewelry from David’s family, which had us thinking about the link between book designers and well-designed jewelry.

British book designers led the way in creating handmade books distinguished by good typography, design, and materials, and several of them were also jewelry designers. Charles Robert Ashbee, printer at the Essex House Press in the Cotswolds, England, was the first book designer to cross over into jewelry. His private press books were exquisite works of art, some printed on natural calfskin called vellum. We were able to purchase one of his rare peacock necklaces executed at the Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Camden and designed by Ashbee. 

Arthur and Georgie Gaskin were known for their illustrations in children’s books as well as Arthur’s beautiful drawings for one book printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press. The husband-and-wife team began working together at the turn-of-the-century to create foliate necklaces that are festooned with wire and semi-precious stones. When Arthur died in 1928, Georgie continued making beautiful necklaces on her own.

In June 1997 I wrote “Three British Book Designers and their Arts & Crafts Jewelry” for Antiquarian Book Monthly. By then we were expanding our collecting vision to include representative pieces from designers further afield than the British Isles. We were seeking variety with excellent design and materials and eventually added pieces from France, Germany, Austria, Spain, America, Denmark, and Russia.

Our jewelry has been photographed in major jewelry references and exhibited at the Driehaus Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Forbes Galleries, New York. 

Our collection largely focused on necklaces, pendants, and brooches, with a bracelet and several rings included. The necklaces are presented in silver and gold; some with enameling and the French examples with plique-à-jour. A variety of precious and semi-precious stones were used as well as crystal and paste. Several are in their original boxes, and most are signed or verified as to the maker. Our jewelry has been photographed in major jewelry references and exhibited at the Driehaus Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Forbes Galleries, New York. 

Art Nouveau, the new art, was an integral component of modernism. Whether it was labeled Arts & Crafts in Britain, Jugendstil in Germany, Wiener Werkstätte in Austria, it was revolutionary in accenting fine design and the elements of care in producing fine, handmade objects. Nature and female forms are thematic in the jewelry. Flowers, leaves, and insects—all are incorporated in pieces, as is the birth of Venus from a diamond studded starfish and a green enameled mermaid with a golden thread.

Art Nouveau, the new art, was an integral component of modernism. Whether it was labeled Arts & Crafts in Britain, Jugendstil in Germany, Wiener Werkstätte in Austria, it was revolutionary in accenting fine design and the elements of care in producing fine, handmade objects.

When I lost David in 2021, I continued to buy a few pieces, but the partnership for the hunt and then the enjoyment of ownership was no longer possible. It is the season now to bid adieu to these incredible pieces of jewelry, all of which I have loved and most of which I took pleasure in wearing at least once. I am delighted to have the collection offered in an open auction for others to appreciate.