Lot Essay
Thais was a 400 BC prostitute and the mistress of Alexander the Great who accompanied him throughout his conquering of the Orient.
Her character, and possibly a Parisian stage performance named after her, inspired Lalique in this somewhat more dramatic but equally graceful companion figure to "Suzanne" (also called the 'second model of Suzanne'). This concurrently designed and produced model has not, however, gained the same popularity and is much rarer.
cf. Felix Marcilhac, R. Lalique, Catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre de verre, Les editions de L'Amateur, Paris, ref. no. 834;
Catalogue, René Lalique Museum, Suwa, Japan 1992, p.88;
Nicholas M. Dawes, Lalique Glass, Crown Publishers Inc., NY, 1986, p.55
Her character, and possibly a Parisian stage performance named after her, inspired Lalique in this somewhat more dramatic but equally graceful companion figure to "Suzanne" (also called the 'second model of Suzanne'). This concurrently designed and produced model has not, however, gained the same popularity and is much rarer.
cf. Felix Marcilhac, R. Lalique, Catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre de verre, Les editions de L'Amateur, Paris, ref. no. 834;
Catalogue, René Lalique Museum, Suwa, Japan 1992, p.88;
Nicholas M. Dawes, Lalique Glass, Crown Publishers Inc., NY, 1986, p.55