Poppy Necklace

Designer René Jules Lalique (French, 1860-1945)

Place of OriginFrance

Dateabout 1900-1903

Dimensionspendant, H: 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm)
chain, L: 22 1/2 in. (57.2 cm)

Mediumgold, rose-cut diamonds, glass, and enamel

ClassificationJewelry

Credit LineMr. and Mrs. George M. Jones, Jr., Fund

Object number

1995.13

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 34, Jewelry Gallery

Label TextRené Lalique was one of the greatest French designers of glass and jewelry of the 20th century. This necklace demonstrates his artistic ingenuity. His designs in the Art Nouveau style are radical departures in concept, trading an emphasis on traditional precious stones for a unified design. Lalique used traditional jewelry materials, such as diamonds, gold, and colored enamel; however, he combined them in new and innovative ways. More significantly, he combined them with a non-traditional jewelry material: glass. Cleverly designed to be worn on its enamel and gold chain or pinned on as a brooch, the necklace makes a bold statement in the turn-of-the-20th-century Art Nouveau style, with its emphasis on nature’s flowing curves. Lalique has captured not only the bending of stems and unfurling of leaves, but he also expresses the stages of the poppies’ growth from bud to full bloom and their subtle range of color. Examples of Lalique’s stunning designs in glass are on display across Monroe Street at the Museum’s Glass Pavilion.Published ReferencesPage, Jutta-Annette, "Upper glass: the complicated history of non-precious jewelry," Glass: The Urban Glass Art Quarterly, no. 110, Spring 2008, repr. p. 48 (det., col.).

Page, Jutta-Annette, "Glass as jewels: an uneasy relationship", in GlassWear: glass in contemporary jewelry, Stuttgart, Arnoldsche, 2007, p. 66, fig. 9, p. 67 (col.).

Harrison, Stephen, Artistic Luxury: faberge Tiffany lalique, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008, pp. 140-141, repr. (col.).

"Calendar of events," Fine Arts (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco), Winter/Spring 2009, repr. p. 32 (col.).

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 286, repr. (col.).

Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art; San Francisco, Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Artistic luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique, 2008-09, no. 176, p. 140, 334, repr. p. 141 (col.).