consisting of four separate panels formed from intertwined damselflies arranged into sinuous and perfectly symmetrical designs, the veined wings decorated with plique-á-jour enamel and highlighted with diamonds, the bodies in luminous opalescent enamel over a silver foil ground, the central panel supporting an aquamarine briolette suspended beneath a cushion cut aquamarine, the reverse of the necklace in etched gold, faithfully representing the bodies of the damselflies.
The necklace signed ‘LALIQUE’ to the clasp, the aquamarine drop marked with Lalique’s poinçon.
Paris, circa 1902-1904
Length: 22cm
The original Lalique design for the necklace survives.
Provenance
Michel Perinet, Paris
Collection of Anne Pivar Lansing, United States Wife of the actor Robert Lansing
Christies, New York (4th/5th December, 1981)
Christies, Geneva (15th May, 1986) Achieving World Record Price for an Art Nouveau jewel
Private Collection, United Kingdom
Illustrated
The Jewellery of René Lalique, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, Goldsmiths’ Hall, (28th May-24th July, 1987) No.36, illustrated page 59.
Art Nouveau (1890-1914), The Victoria and Albert Museum, (6th April-30th July, 2000),
Art Nouveau (1890-1914), Greenhalgh et al, V&A Publications (2000), illustrated p.245.
The Master Jewellers, A Kenneth Snowman et al., Thames and Hudson (1990), p.133.
‘Magnificent Jewels’, Christie’s International Magazine, (September-October, 1986), page 39.