New Book Honours Legendary Designer René Lalique

While Lalique is internationally renowned as one of the world’s foremost designers of Art Noveau and Art Deco glass, few are aware that in Gisborne, New Zealand, there is a large collection of this famous designer’s work.

Acquiring his first Lalique piece in the 1970s, expatriate New Zealander Dr Jack C. Richards has amassed a collection of more than 130 vases. Dating from 1913 to 1938, these vases reveal the sophistication of Lalique’s work as a designer, his delight in the design possibilities of the natural world, and his transition from Art Nouveau to Art Deco.

Lalique Vases, edited by Damian Skinner and with contributions by Carolyn Hatch and Jan and Simon Afford, covers the story of Lalique’s career as a designer, and the network of collectors who cherish Lalique’s glass as a major contribution to modern design. It also explores an untold story about domestic taste and international decorative arts in New Zealand. The beauty of Lalique’s work is artfully captured in illustrations by award-winning photographer, Haru Samishima, two examples below.

Damian Skinner is an independent art historian and curator. His recent books include the co-authored Cone Ten Down: Studio Pottery in New Zealand, 1945–1980 (Bateman, 2009),  and The Passing World, The Passage of Life: John Hovell and the Art of Kowhaiwhai (Rim Books, 2010), both finalists in the New Zealand Post Book Awards, with The Passing World winning the Non-fiction category in 2011. Skinner has written widely on aspects of New Zealand art history, including modernism, Maori art, and craft.

Lalique Glass – The New Zealand Collection of Dr Jack C. Richards edited by Damian Skinner is a David Bateman Ltd full colour hardback priced at $69.99, publication 1 October.