New Czech Frosted Glass Figure

Czech glass makers have always followed public demand. Between the two world wars, certain Czech pieces were close copies of Art Deco-styled frosted glass made by Rene Lalique. Some of the more confusing Czech pieces are similar to Lalique's radiator ornaments, or car mascots.

The Czech lookalike pieces have been in and out of production since WW II. A recent piece brought back into production is a Deco-styled lady with butterfly wings.

This piece is incorrectly identified in a number of reference books as everything but Czech. In Car Mascots Crescent Books, ©1977, it is attributed to English glass makers; it's labeled French in Animal Kingdom in Treasured Glass, Van Pelt, ©1972.

Among the new Czech figures, the butterfly lady is the least like any Lalique counterpart. The closest Lalique figure would be Vitesse. Other Czech pieces, like the lady with streaming hair, are near duplicates to Lalique

Unlike Lalique which is almost always marked, similar Czech pieces were almost never marked. The unmarked Czech pieces are frequent targets of forged Lalique signatures or offered as "unmarked" Lalique.

The lady with butterfly wings, right, has been made in Czech glass works since the late 1920s. It was placed back in production. A roughly similar Lalqiue car mascot, Vitesse, is shown on the right. New Czech pieces frequently show up with forged Lalique marks.

This new Czech piece, left, is much closer to the original Laliqiue Victoire figure, right. The new Czech pieces are usually sold mounted on a base made of black glass.