René Lalique - A Timeline
René Jule Lalique was one of the most influential designers of the late 19th and 20th centuries. His designs of jewellery and glass ranged from the sinuous curves of Art Nouveau to the more geometric lines of Art Deco.

1860 - April 6 - René Jules Lalique is born in Ay, a village in Champagne, France.

1862 - Family moves to a Paris suburb although returning to Ay for holidays fostering an enduring love of this area in Lalique.

1872 - He begins studying drawing at college.

1876 - At the age of 16, René Lalique begins an apprenticeship with leading Parisian jeweller, Louis Aucoc, where he learns the basic skills of jewellery making. At the same time, he attends evening classes at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs.

1878 - He moves to London and enrols at the Sydenham College, South London, where he studies graphic design.

1880 - Lalique returns to Paris where he works as an illustrator of jewellery and starts doing freelance jewellery designs.

1882 - By this time, he is designing jewellery for major jewellers like Aucoc, Boucheron and Cartier, amongst others.

1884 - Lalique forms a partnership with Varenne which lasts for two years. His drawings are displayed at the National Exhibition of Industrial Arts, at the Louvre.

1885 He is now well known for his innovative designs, many using unusual materials like enamels and ivory. Towards the end of the year, he gets his own jewellery workshop.

1889 - The jewellers Vever and Boucheron include some of Lalique's designs in their displays at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, although they are not credited to him.

1890 - Lalique begins to experiment using glass in jewellery.

1893 - He wins the second prize in a competition for the design of a drinking vessal organized by the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs.

1894 - For the first time Lalique exhibits at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français. He also designs jewellery for stage performances by renowned French actress, Sarah Bernhardt.

1895 - Some of his work is on display at Siegfried Bing's Maison de l'Art Nouveau, this is the shop that gave its name to the Art Nouveau movement and where Louis Comfort Tiffany's work was also on display.

1897 - Lalique wins major awards: first prize at the Universal Exhibition in Brussels and the Legion of Honor's Croix de Chevalier.

1903 - He exhibits for the first time at the Salon d'Automne.

1904 - Lalique exhibits at the St Louis World Fair in the USA.

1905 - His first retail shop opens in the Place Vendôme, Paris.

1907 - He designs labels for François Coty's perfume and later goes onto design the perfume bottles. He also designs the windows for Coty's new store, still seen today.

1908 - He rents the Combs-la-Ville glassworks.

1909 - After experimenting with glass making techniques, Lalique submits his first patent application. This is the year he makes his masterpiece vase, Deux Cigales, by the cire-perdue (lost wax) method.

1911 - Lalique exhibits for the first time at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and has his first show of glass at his store in the Place Vendôme.

1918 - He had to close his glass factory during World War I but in this year the building of a new factory is begun in Alsace.

1921 - The factory in Alsace opens and still produces Lalique glass today. He begins work on his first interior decoration commission for an ocean liner, the Paris. Later, his Art Deco designed pieces for other liners like the Normandie and trains like the Orient Express would become world famous and icons of design.

1925 - He designs the interior of the Sèvres Pavilion at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, the exhibition that gave Art Deco its name. This is also the year he designs his first car mascot for Citroën. Over the next six years he designed many more for companies like Bentley, Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza and Rolls Royce.

1926 - He designs the windows of the Saint-Niçoise church in Reims, the interior decoration of the new Worth store in Cannes and the Lido shopping arcade on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. He also starts making satin finished vases, bowls, and statuettes which have become typical of Lalique.

1935 - He opens a new store Rue Royale in Paris which remains the company's main showroom today.

1939 - The Second World War forces the closure of the glass making factroy in Alsace.

1945 May 5, René Lalique dies aged 85.

See more about Art Nouveau or more about Art Deco.

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Copyright © 2004 Carol Fisher