RENÉ LALIQUE. Brooch "Leafed Woman", ca. 1900

RENÉ LALIQUE (Ay, France, 1860 - Paris, 1945).
Art Nouveau brooch "Leafed Woman", model Brooch-133, circa 1900.
Yellow gold, green enamel and diamonds.
Signed LALIQUE.
Depicting a female head in relief, framed by naturalistic-inspired enameled leaves and decorated with small diamonds in the hair area.
Hinged needle back clasp; the needle is not original, corresponding to a later replacement.
With period case.
Measurements: 39 × 27 mm.

The "Leafed Woman" brooch is a significant example of René Lalique's jewelry language around 1900, at the height of Art Nouveau. The piece brings together two of the central motifs of his imaginary: the female figure and the plant world, integrated in a small-format composition where the face emerges between enameled leaves. The green enamel brings chromatic depth and an organic quality to the foliage, while the diamonds, used in a restrained manner, accentuate the upper part of the head without displacing the protagonism of the composition. Its interest lies especially in the authorship, the signature, the identification of the model and the conservation of the enamel, a technical element of great fragility and value in Art Nouveau jewelry.

René Lalique was one of the fundamental figures of modern jewelry and one of the great creators of Art Nouveau. Trained in Paris and London, he revolutionized turn-of-the-century jewelry by incorporating materials and techniques - enamel, glass, horn, hard stones or gems of secondary value - in the service of a fully artistic conception of the piece. His jewelry, inspired by nature, the female figure, insects and symbolism, marked a break with the nineteenth-century jewelry tradition and placed jewelry creation in the field of avant-garde decorative arts. His works are part of institutions such as the Musée Lalique, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, consolidating his position as one of the essential names in collectible jewelry.