The René Lalique’s Dragonfly-woman corsage ornament

The dragonfly corsage ornament is a designed, piece of René Lalique’s jewellery, one the most famous ornaments of the Art Nouveau era.

This decorative jewel, dated from 1903, was acquired by Calouste Gulbenkian from René Lalique. Gulbenkian was a British- Armenian businessman, a great art collector and a significant supporter of René Lalique’s artwork, who commissioned many of his projects, including this dragonfly brooch.

The ancient brooches are chronological indicators. Generally, the art experts estimate the production date of the pins as this jewellery category adorned the opulent dresses of many historical characters in the past centuries.

It is not difficult to detect the type of design. We can undoubtedly recognize its style, which promptly refers to the Art Nouveau period with its flowing curved shape and the female silhouette.

In the mid-to-late 19th century and the Victorian style, the brooches had long pins, enriched by expensive gold spines, decorated with valuable stones like diamonds and pearls and used as clothes fasteners by dresses. The extended length of the pin kept the thicker textile pieces together and secured them in place. However, in the later years by Art Nouveau style, the jewellers attached the non-precious stones to the brooches and produced them as clasp fastenings for dresses and other clothing like jackets, sweaters and even hats.

The Dragonfly Woman With Wings

This Jewell has mixed characteristics. The dragonfly woman depicts a hybrid creature with a slender insect body and a human face formed from apple-green chrysoprase stone. The upper bust opens two symmetric wings intertwined with furious griffin claws.

This jewel with enamelled gold is one of the most impressive jewellery artwork from the last century. Lalique enriched the piece with other precious stones such as chalcedony, diamonds and moonstone.

The dimensions are (WXH) 26,5 x 23 cm. It belongs to Calouste Gulbenkian Museum collections in Lisbon, Portugal.

Get more information on this overview page.

Text: Lalerou
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